Your plan to get what you want falls woefully short of the mark. You endure the defeat with discouragement as the victim — not the victor – yet again. Why? The answer is simple: you didn’t have the plan to counter the wrecking ball known as adversity.
Adversity is part of life. Things won’t always go our way. Without a plan to knock down the roadblocks, adversity will bludgeon you every time. Do yourself a favor: start to plan for adversity and make room for both successes and failures to exist in your life.
Here’s what you need to do – and not do:
Don’t Be at War with Adversity
Practice acceptance. Don’t pretend that you can ignore an obstruction away. Accept that the best way to knock it down is to not try to control it. And accept responsibility for your choices, past and present. Stop fighting to minimize problems as unexpected, impossible-to-anticipate surprises. Instead, focus your energy on the choices you can make to deal with them.
Don’t Be an Absolutist
Life isn’t lived to extremes. Get comfortable with the world as a mix of success and adversity. Don’t always expect perfection or anticipate disaster.
Don’t Rub Salt in the Wound
When adversity arrives, don’t take a wrecking ball to your life. Silence your inner critic. Look at your strengths, shortcomings, and unknowns from many different angles. Kick to the curb anything that won’t help you move past the obstacle.
Do Get Contradictory
Look for the paradox in the situation and for the lessons you can take from your experience. Think of a way it may have saved you from an even more catastrophic mistake. This practice eliminates the uncertainty that comes with adversity. Biases are exposed, distance is created, and a new clarity of thought emerges.
Do Let It Go
Success and adversity happen in bursts. Throughout your life, you will experience moments of both. Let go of your conscious focus on the setbacks when you deal with them and the successes when you celebrate them. The memories and lessons learned can be recalled when you need them in the future.
Plan for adversity, take the lead and decide what you want to get in life.