I get it… life is tough. We all have had to face difficulties in our lives. Whether it’s relationship issues, health struggles, career problems, or financial difficulties… hardship is inevitable.
Having the ability to triumph over adversity is what separates the successful from the struggling. What if I told you there a few easy, confidence-inspiring ways to help you overcome even the most daunting problems?
Nelson Mandela once said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
I’d like to share four ways to empower yourself to conquer your fear and overcome adversity.
1. Adopt a growth mindset.
What is a growth mindset? Perhaps it’s cliche or one of those woo-woo self-help topics that you purchased a book about, but then laid it upon a shelf, promising yourself you will come back to it later. A growth mindset, proposed by Stanford professor Carol Dweck in her book “Mindset” describes people who believe that their skills and intelligence can be improved with effort and persistence. They embrace challenges and persist through the most difficult obstacles while learning from failures and improve their intelligence and skills through persistence and effort. To overcome adversity and thrive you need to be agile and adopt a more elastic mindset. Why is this important? Well… most of the time the difference between success and failure comes down to mindset. Adopting a growth mindset is not something that can happen overnight… it’s a process. A difficult process. Your attitudes and overall mindset are derived from a culmination of a lifetime of experiences, history, personality, and beliefs.
“A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it.” – Ray Davis
2. Reframe your thoughts.
This is probably the most difficult… and important hurdle to overcome. Before you can begin to learn from your failures you must first change how you define failure. In most cases, failure take a huge emotional toll and sets in motion a complex series of events which ultimately may result in self-doubt… Self-doubt is the antithesis of success! Ask yourself why the failure hurts. Is it really about failing… or do you care more about what others will think? Once you begin to treat failure as an opportunity it will allow you to retrain your brain to see the lessons and the positives that can come from failure. Learn from these lessons and try again! Just because you failed today doesn’t mean you will tomorrow!
“If a problem can’t be solved within the frame it was conceived, the solution lies in reframing the problem.” – Brian McGreevy, Hemlock Grove
3. Venture outside of your comfort zone.
Your comfort zone is a psychological, behavioral, and emotional construct. It doesn’t exist outside of you. There’s certainly nothing wrong with spending time in your comfort zone. We all need that stability and comfort, however, the problem begins when you get too comfortable and stop challenging yourself. This leads to complacency and letting opportunities pass you by. The only way to really overcome adversity and grow to your full potential is by stepping outside of your comfort zone.
“Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it.” – Rapunzel, Tangled
4. Turn failures and setbacks into learning experiences.
First, understand that everyone fails in life. The wisdom of learning from failure is incontrovertible, however, we often don’t do it, choosing the familiar instead. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people feel utterly defeated by failure. They let the failure dig at the very fabric of their being and perpetuate the idea they will never achieve real success. But… Every time a door closes a new one always opens. You must learn to embrace failure and understand it’s importance to your personal growth. Once you recognize this you will take a great jump towards success.
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” – Denis Waitley
If you truly want to overcome challenges and obstacles you must develop endurance to overcome adversity. Try the four tips above and you will triumph even in your most uncertain times.
