Top 10 Experts Share Their Tips for Overcoming Adversity
How I Overcome Adversity By Showing Up Daily
by QuHarrison Terry
Overcoming adversity starts days, months, and years before the adversity materializes. Michael Phelps didn’t win his first gold medal in Athens at age 19. He won his first gold medal in the lap pools of Baltimore at age 10. We overcome adversity by working on our skill sets every single day.
The most readily available and overlooked way of building our skill sets is by becoming a Digital Apprentice.
What does it mean to become a Digital Apprentice?
“Digital Apprenticeship is showing up every day on the Internet to learn something new from a Digital Master. Then, take that knowledge and apply it to a digital activity that may not pay immediate returns, but has the chance at great compounding returns. That’s Digital Apprenticeship.” – Chris Do, The Futur
The difference with Digital Apprenticeship is not to seek a mentor or master to call your own. Digital Masters are to be shared by everyone. Rather, you need to seek heroes. Thus, you should learn their ways from afar. As you would your hero.
My Digital Masters:
Paul Jarvis of Chimp Essentials & Creative Class
Ben Thompson of Stratechery
Beeple of EVERYDAYS
Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt
What I learned from them was Consistency. Showing up every day with creative ideas and giving more to the digital ecosystems than I took. Whenever I found myself in a time of great adversity, I reverted to consistency. Just show up and create something like Paul, Ben, Beeple, or Ryan.
Showing Up Daily
Digital Apprenticeship, when it comes down to it, is all about getting your daily repetitions in. Adversity is more easily overcome by those with experience.
Kids who make memes every single day are great examples of Digital Apprentices. They work and rework everything that is copyright free on the Internet. They’re learning the language of the Internet. And simultaneously creating the currency of the Internet.
So I ask you, where on the Internet are you getting your apprentice reps in? Where are you giving and taking, creating, and reworking what already exists on the Internet?
I got my reps in by distributing my theories about the future of technology every day for 3 years. My consistency in future thinking led to life-changing opportunities with Mark Cuban, BMW, and Linkedin.
Even to this day, you can find me on Trends Exchange strategically thinking about emerging ideas, industries, and technologies.
Have a strong vision and nothing will stop you
by Opher Brayer
Stages.Global | CoachingbyMeasurement
Overcoming Adversity: When the going gets tough, the tough get going Hard times are more common than you think. Getting past them is just a mental game you can learn to win.
Does it sometimes seem like every challenge you face in life becomes a big problem? You are not alone. Adversity affects the best of us and can beat us to the ground.
When adversity hits a person, he/she becomes confused and struggles to move forward. It is part of everyone’s life. But what makes each of us different is the way we deal with them.
What are the best ways to face adversities?
Storytime
Imagine that you lost your job. After searching for another job for some time, you lost all your hope.
Then one day, you had a vision! A vision of becoming a chef. Yes, you decided to learn the culinary art. And then, it became your mission to get all the tools and skills required to serve people the best. Once you accomplish your mission, you start executing it. You begin by taking baby steps and keep focused on reaching your goal.
You lost your job, which was your adversity. You overcame that and became successful with the help of vision, mission, and execution. So, it doesn’t matter what your vision is, you can be a chef or a game trainer as long as you have what it takes to make it happen.
Have a strong vision:
You start believing yourself when you have a vision.
Have a mission:
A well-organized plan to execute your vision.
Execute it better:
Stay focused, move forward, and execute it fiercely.
To keep your head clear and stay focused, you need these three characteristics: productive, creative, and adaptable to change. These qualities will help you create your own opportunities, which will keep away adversities.
Fix your mind on your vision and mission. And then be focused and execute. If you can do that, nothing can knock you down.
Embrace adversity don’t get sucked into following the problem. Learn to look away from where the ball is going and see what opportunities are in the other direction.
BE Positive and You’ll BE Powerful!
by Elayna Fernandez
My personal motto is “BE Positive and You’ll BE Powerful.” Positive thinking is a great tool to use in hard times, because it gives you access to greater inner power.
Being positive is not about pretending that we don’t all go through irreversible, inexplicable, and inescapable pain. Pain is the common thread to our humanity.
I call myself a Student of Pain, because if we’re diligent, pain can be an effective teacher.
I created this formula to remind me of what I must do when I want to quit, when I am suffering, when I feel broken:Faith + Gratitude = Positivity.
These two gifts are not easily cultivated, especially when you’re in the middle of the struggle; but it is indeed possible!
Having faith means trusting the process. Just like it will take 212 degrees for water to boil – every single time – if you hold on to your vision, show up, and stay committed to take the steps you can take even when it looks like it’s not working, even when it doesn’t feel like it’s worth it, even when it doesn’t look like you’re getting where you want to get, you will see results!
Our outcomes are impacted by our responses to the different events that occur in life, and though we certainly do not choose some experiences we go through, we can focus on learning, growing, and improving.
A lack of faith results in an attitude, attachment, and anxiety that could block new insight, inspiration, solution, lesson, impact, or ideas from coming your way.
Trusting the process is also knowing as we take each step of the process, we will be guided to the next. It’s just easier when we go with that flow, when we surrender to reality and make it our friend.
And that takes me to gratitude. I grew up in a slum and I always say that extreme poverty gave me the gift of perspective. Not everything is grind, pain, rejection, uncertainty, obstacles, hustle, sweat, setback, self-doubt, failure, long hours, blood, and tears – we are just wired to dwell on these a lot longer than we do our celebrations.
I always say that “Gratitude is the birthplace of joy:” Whenever I turn my focus to past and present blessings, to what I’ve endured and what I’ve survived, the journey ahead becomes much easier and joyful. I invite you to try it today!
The Darkest Day Will Pass Away
by Gaurav Bhalla
My #1 tip for coping and overcoming adversity is provided by my favorite wisdom poem:
Watch your thoughts, your thoughts become words
Watch your words, your words become actions,
Watch your actions, your actions become…
First the thought. Think about this:
Everything is temporary in the affairs of humans, so avoid undue depression in adversity and undue elation in prosperity. Or as the favorite inspirational reminds us – this too shall pass. The thought one more time, this time from William Shakespeare (Macbeth):
Come what may Time and the hour runs through the darkest day.
Next, the word.
Imagine someone extremely close to you, extremely close – a sibling, wife/husband, dear friend, son/daughter – comes to you for advice because they are being battered by adversity. What advice would you give them? Think extremely carefully. Then…offer the same advice to yourself. Say it, aloud, clearly, once, twice, thrice, as many times as it takes for you to rise.
Finally, the action.
The ultimate goal, when confronted by adversity, is to get our feet moving again – rally ourselves to keep walking, even though we can’t see through the fog of despair and dark clouds and tears. We must lace our shoes and resume walking. All other choices are infinitely inferior. In the words of the soulful southern hymnal:
We cannot see in the future, but walk on by faith each day.
Good luck folks. We can’t live through life walking on mountain tops alone. But walk we must, regardless of the adversities life tests us with.
Show Your Audience Your Positive Influence!
by Tamara Word-Magalotti
I love a good makeover. I’m one of those girly-girl types that loves pink, cute hearts, gorgeous shoes, and a good romantic comedy. However, in business, things are not always pink and pretty. In business sometimes we have to endure many horrific types of adversity. Whether it be bad luck, hardship, difficulty, sorrow, misery, financial disaster, or even illness. These things unfortunately are just a part of business. We can’t always stop them, but we can find ways to handle setbacks when they show up in our pink and pretty lives. Here are a few tips on giving your audience and yourself a positive makeover.
#1. Show Your Audience Your Integrity.
Be humble, honest, and truthful. No one wants to work with a know it all sleazy salesman. Your clients deserve better. Give them your best by being transparent and honest. They don’t need to know your entire life history, but by being transparent with your audience and your clients this will help them to build trust in you. Clients buy from people they trust.
#2. Update Your Mindset.
There are hundreds of classes, books, videos, and podcasts available on positive mindset. Filling your mind daily with positive information will influence you and your audience for the better. To help your audience, you could start a book club or give your audience a workshop on how to begin their mornings on a positive note, in order to have a more productive day. There are a lot of ways to have a more positive mindset, but if a Book club or workshop is too much, then begin with yourself. Start by reading something positive for 20 minutes per day.
#3. Be Your True Authentic Self.
As I said before, I love pink and pretty things, and that’s what I present to my clients, the girly me. Showing up any other way, would be a falsehood and untrue. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t appreciate who they really are, they think that if they act just like so and so whose made millions, their business is going to explode. Well your audience can see right through this, plus this kind of fakery can lead to impostor syndrome behaviors. I’m always myself, what you see is what you get, even if that means wearing a dress and high heels in the dead of winter. Be yourself. Your clients will appreciate you so much more.
Having Integrity, a positive and productive mindset, as well as, staying true to who you really are, will show your audience that you are a positive Influencer. That what you say matters, and the service you provide is important to the world. We all need more positive Influencers in this life, especially right now. So show up, Be yourself, Now is the time!
Have a plan B.
Immigrants’ Attorney Helping Other Immigrants.
by Solomon Kanu
One way to overcome adversity is to prepared for it. Life will always change and the people who survive are those who are ready and adaptable to those changes no matter what thy are. Have strong connections with the people that matter in your life, your spouse, your children, your close friends. Make your lawyer, your accountant, your doctor etc to be people you can reach when issues crop up not people you remember when you need them.
Have a plan B.
Go INTO the Suffering When the Going Gets Tough.
Denise McDermott M.D.
“Face your suffering with a healthy mindset” is the #1 tip to overcoming adversity that I share with my clients.
Life is a series of crisis, stabilization, and thrive cycles.
We can use our experiences and feelings of loss, sadness, betrayal, or anger to create a momentum of change in times of suffering.
When we are in crisis there is infinite unseen energy and potential to grow and thrive.
A positive mindset is a key to being adaptive in times of uncertainty or crisis. At His Holiness Body Mind Life conference “Nurturing Children’s Mental Health” I spoke about the importance of awareness, self-love, and altruism as essential ingredients for optimal mental health and a positive mindset.
With this foundation, we have healthy coping strategies and the ability to “bounce back” when faced with a challenge.
Awareness is achieved through a practice of mindfulness or meditation. We must be calm, present and in the NOW so we can face our suffering head on.
Make time to be in nature, engage in a moving or still meditation to quiet your mind to have clarity of your next move in solving your problem.
Remember meditation is mind medicine and is the gateway drug for awareness.
Love yourself unconditionally with all of your imperfections. Self love Includes healthy nutrition, regular exercise, good sleep hygiene and finding your meditation routine.
A practice of gratitude for everything that is going right in your life is your “secret sauce” to keeping an open and positive mind throughout the day. A healthy lifestyle allows strong self-esteem and you will be able to give yourself an internal pep talk of “It will be ok, this is a temporary state of suffering.”
Altruism allows us to remember we are not alone and takes our minds off of our problems. Help a neighbor, smile at a salesclerk, reach out to a friend, and give a listening ear when you are going through a tough time.
A positive mindset sets the foundation for adapting in times of crisis and reaching your personal thrive with awareness, self-love, and altruism.
Survive to Thrive – 7 Must Have Leadership Habits Amid Global Crisis.
by Faisal Hoque
No one really knows what’s coming around the next corner, we’re all operating on uneven footing. Still, leaders’ jobs haven’t fundamentally changed–we still need to spark creativity, drive progress, and ensure sustainability. So I’ve been reminding myself that while I can’t predict the future, I can at least try to prepare to live in it, make sense of it, and navigate whatever upheavals arise as strategically as possible.
And to do that, I keep going back to these tried-and-true lessons:
Accept Your Battle — As humans, our instincts are to fight bitterly against the adversity we are faced with. The most resilient among us will often find a way to fight it by embracing it. 2. Leverage Your Solitude — Sometimes we need to slow down in order to move forward. Slowing down is a deliberate choice that can lead to greater appreciation for the inner and outer world. Being truly in the moment allows us to escape from adversity and conserve our inner energy. Solitude allows for slow down. 3. Guide Your Energy — The people we surround ourselves with (virtually or physically) greatly impacts our daily energy. Spending time with people who make you stronger requires intentional effort, and is a key component in being able to move forward. Equally important is to avoid people who bring us down, waste our time, take us backward, and have no interest in our suffering. 4. Achieve Small Goals Every Day — Setting smaller goals for ourselves offers us positive reinforcement when we achieve them. It feels good to know that I am accomplishing something. 5. Influence Others, Then Let Them Influence You — True leaders inspire and influence everyone in good times and bad. Communicating effectively in times of uncertainty means not just articulating your point of view, but listening actively — without bias or judgment and with a real willingness to consider different perspectives. 6. Empathy Always Pays Dividends — Leaders may feel their job is to reassure their teams–to talk more than they’re used to. But I’ve found listening to be even more important. When I’m actively listening, I’ll hear genuine concerns and clear a space for talking level-headedly about how to cope with them together. 7. No Matter What, Move Forward — I’ve found that in trying to instill a sense of mission and purpose in my organization, I need to keep underscoring the urgency of the tasks at hand. Purpose-driven organizations act and adapt. No matter the political, social, or economic climate, there’s always a way to find new market spaces or gaps in existing ones. There are always problems to solve.
Copyright (c) 2020 by Faisal Hoque. All rights reserved.
Serial entrepreneur and author Faisal Hoque is the founder of SHADOKA, which develops accelerators and technology products and solutions for sustainable growth. He is the author of “Everything Connects”, and other books. He has made his entire book “Survive to Thrive” accessible for everyone @ https://www.survivetothrive.online. Follow him on Twitter @faisal_hoque.
Paper Doll an Empowered Woman Extraordinaire.
by LuAn Mitchell
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE YOU.
Throughout time loyalty, conviction and pride have drawn us together, a fundamental basis for belonging. In no other era have we come together to share our legends, education, spiritual Love, and belief systems as we do now in what some have referred to as our “final hour.”
Crisis has always sparked action. Since communication networks were non-existent (as we know them) in previous times, it was difficult, perhaps impossible, for civilization to share its traditions, spiritual revelations, and myths with one another. Now is the Time for us to have our voices heard, Big Media USA Podcasts with a Purpose are that venue. Books like Paper Doll – a Revelations Time Machine – the Truth about your Past are great tools to help us learn to overcome adversity.
LuAn Mitchell also called LA, knows the business. She is known as the Paper Doll.
With long experience as one of the most accomplished women in the world, she is a highly sought after inspirational speaker, life coach, and corporate advisor. Ms. Mitchell has an intimate understanding of the issues of competitiveness and global pressures on the “playing field” in today’s tough “business of life” world. She has successfully turned around, played on and WON the game on tough corporate fields in male dominated industries, and sat on boards with Global female leaders like herself. Her International best Selling Book “Paper Doll” A Revelations time Machine is filled with great advice and powerful action plans.
In fact, the prestigious McGill University of Montreal, Quebec presented her with their Management Achievement Award and she was named the American Biographical Institutes “Woman of the Year” as well as being awarded their “Lifetime Achievement Award.” “Ms. Mitchell has been inducted as a “Leading Woman Entrepreneur of the World” in several countries across the planet. In a nationwide search, and for THREE consecutive years, she was named Canada’s Number One Female Entrepreneur.
Each of us has a little voice inside us that can help us when making difficult decisions. Sometimes it’s easy to recognize this voice—you can feel it deep in your gut. I believe our God-given instincts tap into our deeper knowledge. They help us uncover what we already know. Our instincts are an unconscious skill, a survival mechanism that can be used repeatedly to great advantage. Whether you think of it as following your instincts or going with your gut, I know you can’t go wrong if you are true to that voice deep within you. LA Mitchell is the President and Co-Owner of Big Media USA, a communications company based in California.
Embrace the Suck: Why Entrepreneurs Should Enjoy Adversity
by Aaron Armstrong
Aaronjarmstrong.com | Podcast: Winners, Wallets, and Worldviews
Adversity is no stranger to the entrepreneur’s journey. Someone willing to stomach the roller coaster of a start-up experience has a unique ability to step out of their comfort zone. When I was in the army, we had a saying called “embrace the suck.” This saying was often thrown around during times of extreme stress or difficulty to encourage people to realize that difficulty is part of the profession, so embrace it. Frankly, that is the advice I would give to an entrepreneur as they face the growing hardships of a start-up. “Embrace the suck.”
Entrepreneurship is about solving problems.
On my podcast Winners, Wallets, and Worldviews, I interviewed serial entrepreneur Nate Scott, who insisted “The difficulty of the problem and the necessity of the problem is directly proportional to the success of the venture.” Therefore, a successful entrepreneur needs to get comfortable with complexity. Adversity should be an indicator of the potential success of the business.
Another guest on my show, Mike Erwin founder of the non-profit Team Red, White, and Blue said “get comfortable with chaos.” When working on a new venture, complexity, difficulty, and chaos are signs that you are working on a big problem. Big problems indicate big potential. Many people fail to see a problem as an opportunity. Rather, they see problems merely as obstacles. To a new business, the challenges presented often reveal potential opportunities for a new market, leaner operations, or high customer satisfaction. Take, for example, customer frustrations. A customer being frustrated is certainly a problem. But, their problems often reveal significant insight into how you can continuously improve your value proposition.
Jim Young was one of my podcast guests who is an eight-figure real estate investor and fellow graduate of the United States Military Academy. He also was one of my most downloaded guests due to the tactical advice he brought to the listeners. He mentioned that one way you separate yourself as a successful real estate investor is to be willing to take on the largest problems because embedded in those problems is the largest opportunity. He shared an example of a property that had sewage issues beneath the ground causing extremely high costs to any developer. He decided to take on that problem because no one would touch it. Sometime later, that turned into one of his largest investments.
So, what is my advice for someone going through adversity in the early phases of a business? Learn to enjoy the struggle. The harder it is the tastier the reward. Simply put, embrace the suck.
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