Adversity

Published by Eric Hemati on April 17, 2017

Saw a great post recently on Anthony Iannarino’s blog and thought it incredibly applicable to what we do.

Adversity hurts you if you accept it. It only beats you if you don’t push back against it, if you don’t push through it. If you accept that somehow, the tough hand you have been dealt isn’t a hand you can play, you have given adversity the power instead of taking the power from it.

Adversity hurts you if you define it through the negativity frame. The story you tell is is a survivor’s story or a thriver’s story. The survivor’s story is the story about how adversity prevents them from being more, doing more, having more, and contributing more. Those who have recognized the value in adversity tell another story. They tell the story of how adversity built them into someone who thrives.

Adversity hurts you if you believe that it holds you back, that it disempowers you. If you believe that adversity prevents, it does indeed prevent. If you believe that an event prevents you from succeeding, it will. If you believe that that same event requires you to act in some new way, adversity propels your forward, stronger than you were before.

Adversity hurts you if you use it as an excuse. If you want a reason to “not,” adversity will provide it. If you want an excuse for the things you believe you “can not” have, or the things that you “can not” do, or the person you ”can not” become, adversity will provide that excuse. Other people with the same or similar adversity use it as the reason they “can” and the motivation to “do.”

You are human. You are certain to face adversity. The human condition makes it unavoidable. But it isn’t something that defines you in a negative or limiting way, unless you choose to define yourself by the adversity in a negative or limiting way.

Pushing against adversity is one of the most potent and important ways that you grow stronger.