Embed from Getty Images
I’ve been through some shit you might’ve thought you’d never experience. I’m sure you’ve been through your own trials, too.
I’ve held my five-month-old son in my arms while he seized uncontrollably multiple times per day. Doctors had no idea what was going on. I was diagnosed with cancer and fought that for many years before getting the full-recovery nod in 2015. I have been in toxic relationships, worked for toxic employers. I’ve had toxic friendships.
And at no point did I ever think that any of this was on me. I was a victim and none of it was my fault. Society wants you to believe it’s not your fault, too. You might even believe it!
The Harder You Work, The More Success You Achieve, The More Your Past Life Looks Easy.
Fast forward to today. Life is still hard. Challenges haven’t gotten better; things have gotten harder. The harder you work, the more success you achieve, the more your past life looks easy. This happens when you level up. There are days I look back at the things that used to stress me out and I laugh.
Literally LOL.
There’s a difference between the old me and the new me. It wasn’t too late for me and there’s a chance it’s not too late for you either.
Opportunity From Adversity.
Notorious BIG said “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” and I would have to agree. The more success you achieve, the bigger the challenges and the bigger the headaches.
It is also interesting that the more money you make, the more people are standing there with their hands out, but that’s a whole different blog post.
As the challenges get bigger, you can face them and they can make you stronger or you can buckle under the pressure and they can cripple you. You will not let them cripple you if you believe you are in control and you take responsibility.
A huge majority of new startup companies don’t last past 18 months. Know why? It’s hard and when it gets hard, most people aren’t willing to put in the work and do whatever it takes.
I’m Sure A Portion Can’t Learn From The Challenges To Adapt Before It’s Too Late.
So, what does this all mean?
Every challenge is a learning opportunity if you’re willing to embrace it. Can you have the foresight and ability to step back from the challenge, amidst the chaos, and determine the underlying issues?
Can you learn what is happening at the imperial level to allow yourself and your team to adopt a policy, system, process or procedure to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again?
This Is How You Grow
You try and you fail. You learn when you fail. In most cases, you learn when you fail more than you learn when everything goes great! So, as you experience struggles, adapt and implement strategies. When you try again, you’ll be able to smile at the results of a well-oiled machine that’s just been tweaked and is now running great.
After a period of time, you’ll have experienced so many challenges and overcome them that you’ll have developed a somewhat bulletproof system that can be grown, scaled, or even transplanted.
This system can help you transition into new markets where you’ll test the entire system in new territory and most likely be challenged again.
Can we learn from our struggles? It’s the only way to survive. If you want to be one of the roughly 20 percent who makes it past 18 months, you need to be able to ride out the storms.
You also need to embrace the challenges and learn to adapt.
Remember, when the going gets tough, you’re learning.
__
Original article appeared at Dr. Matt Motil. Reprinted with permission.
_
◊♦◊
Photo credit: Getty Images