Four Key Attitudes for Overcoming Adversity

We are all bound to find ourselves in a predicament at some time in our lives. It may be a moment when you realize that you have made a huge blunder that will cost your company millions of dollars (and cost you your job). It may be when your wife slaps you with divorce papers one night you come home late from work. Or it could be when you’re diagnosed with an incurable disease that you will have to live with for the rest of your life. So what would you do?

Your first impulse may be to ignore the problem and pretend like it never happened. This is a very natural reaction that comes from a desire to protect yourself from getting hurt. Then, realizing that ignoring the problem doesn’t solve it, you may give in to despair and lament your ill fate. You may feel so disheartened that you lose your will to live, or you may get enraged feeling that life is unfair.

But before you start feeling like it’s the end of the world, try this exercise.

First, think of someone who has faced the same or similar situation as the one you’re in and successfully overcame it. If you suffer from an illness, think of someone who has been afflicted with the same or similar condition, but didn’t let the illness get in the way of achieving success, like Franklin D. Roosevelt. There are millions of people who have been divorced and have lost jobs but still found happiness and success later, often by leveraging the setback. This will give you at least a bit of hope that maybe you too can rise above adversity.

Now consider the four key attitudes for overcoming setbacks and failures:

Accept what happened as your reality
No. It’s not a bad dream. What’s done can’t be undone. So you might as well accept it as a reality of life.
Never put the blame on others
Whatever the problem you’re facing, tell yourself that blaming others or outside circumstances won’t solve it.
Find lessons in adversity
Ask what it is trying to teach you and keep searching for answers until you find them. List up positive outcomes that can result from it.
Trust yourself and rely on your own efforts and abilities
Write down the abilities and skills that you now possess. What can you do to make the best use of them to open up a new path?

These four attitudes will help you find a way out of the predicament and start walking the path to happiness and success.

Want to read more about essential attitudes for overcoming adversity, setbacks, and hardships? Read Invincible Thinking: An Essential Guide for a Lifetime of Growth, Success, and Triumph today!