4 Steps to Overcoming Adversity

“Life is difficult.” This is the famous opening line of the bestselling book, The Road Less Traveled, written by M. Scott Peck. Indeed, let me be bold enough to say that a life without adversity will be a life not worth living.  While I used to dislike adversity and would try my best to stay clear of it, I have learnt that it is the ability to overcome adversity that makes us a better and stronger person.

I have learnt that your mindset towards adversity will have a profound effect on how you deal with adversity. Remember the following:

1. Life is a continuous succession of both small and large problems. Problems never end. No sooner do you get control of one situation when you are hit by another. Learn to accept that life is a process of “two steps forward and one step back.”

2. You only learn what you’re made of only when you are fall, end over end, by some adversity that hits you like a truck. What really matters is how you pick yourself up.

3. You couldn’t possibly have become the person you are today if you hadn’t contended with adversity. You grow more surely toward the stars.

4. The Universe will never send a difficulty that is too big for you to handle. Whatever problems or adversities you face, you have within you the resources and creativity to deal with them. You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.

The only question is, “How good are you at overcoming the inevitable adversities of life?”

Here are 4 steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

1. Treat every problem or difficulty as if it were a “test,” sent to test your competency. Look for ways to grow stronger and benefit, and “pass” the test with high marks.

2. Stay calm no matter what happens. The longer you can stay calm and relaxed, the better decisions you make and the faster you will be out of your difficulty. You need clarity of mind. Take full control of your emotions and senses. Back off mentally, and become as objective as possible. Step back and look at the problem with a certain amount of detachment, as if it were happening to someone else.

3. Ask other people who have had the same problem for their advice. Don’t try to solve it by yourself.

4. Remind yourself, “This, too, shall pass.”