How To Turn Challenges Into Success

In life, challenges are inevitable.

It's how we choose to handle them that defines our path to success.

From personal issues to global emergencies, we all face hardships that can either hold us back or propel us forward.

By shifting our mindset and embracing the potential hidden within these challenges, we can unlock a world of possibilities

Whether it's a family issue, a business or career setback, or some other unexpected turn of events, there are invaluable lessons to be learned from overcoming adversity.

We Are All Unique

As strong as my passion for self-improvement and related resources might be, I am seldom, if ever, inspired by stories about a famous person overcoming adversity to achieve incredible success.

Sure it’s interesting to hear how people like Walt Disney, Winston Churchill, Helen Keller and Oprah Winfrey overcame life struggles to make huge differences not only in their own lives but in the world at large.

What’s not to love about individuals developing and committing their best stuff for the benefit of others?

As inspirational and motivational as these and hundreds of similar stories certainly are, these examples of people who turn adversity into success seldom resonate with me or align with my own life circumstances. And to make matters worse, whatever gifts that I may have usually differ dramatically from those of the stars of the success stories.

Realistically, as human beings, each of us is unique. We all have our own individual combination of gifts and resources.

Given that our personal resources are not the same as those of Walt Disney or Helen Keller, how can we possibly learn from their examples, as inspiring as they may be?

Given that all actions are triggered by ideas, it would be more helpful to focus on the mindset of successful people instead of their actions. This approach can help us make the shift from an “I can’t” mindset to one of “I can”.

Here are four suggestions for making that shift in order to develop a success-focused mindset and supporting attitudes.

1. Persistence

Persistence is that attribute that keeps us going regardless of whatever setbacks, failures, and obstacles come our way.

It's what helps us stay the course until we have achieved our desired results.

It’s kind of like inertia, which is what makes it so difficult to move a body at rest. It’s also inertia that makes it so difficult to stop a body in motion.

Once we overcome the inertia of the status quo, the momentum of moving towards our desired results can help keep us going.

2. Don’t Make Comparisons

As suggested above, I don’t like comparing myself to the likes of Walt Disney or Helen Keller. But that’s not the result of low self-esteem or high self-awareness.

I was the second-born son in family that valued athletic prowess above all else. My older brother achieved the success on the baseball diamond and hockey rink that my father could only imagine for himself.

As a very young child, I learned that if I tried to compare myself to my brother, I would be on the losing side. Although I dabbled in baseball and hockey, academic achievement was mine to enjoy and savor.

Not only was I the first person on either side of the family to graduate from high school, I went on to complete two university degrees, practice law and a whole bunch of other non-athletic fun stuff.

As?Steve Jobs?once said, “your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

In retrospect, I am so happy that that for whatever reason, I decided against living my brother’s athletic life...or even trying to compare myself to him.

3. Stay Positive

Coming from a sports loving family, positivity abounded.

Even when one team or another was having absolutely dismal season, I can’t think of a single game that was canceled because everyone involved expected to lose. Sports history is rich with stories of the underdog team or player defeating its highly touted competition.

Yes, miracles do happen, more often than not, right out the blue when we least expect them … and they are most welcome.

Realistically, it’s only natural to focus on problems and negative issues.

But these factors can and will pass.

A positive attitude can and will help us move on from these problems and negative issues .

Not only is such an attitude empowering, it can also limit, if not eliminate potential damage from negative feelings.

4. Set Goals

Among the many benefits of planning is creating meaningful goals.

By defining where we want to be, our goals serve the same purpose as the ultimate destination of road trip or airline flight. They help monitor our progress, helping to keep us on track to reach our ultimate destination.

As monitoring tools, our goals help us decide whether unexpected events represent opportunities or threats.

If an unexpected event might help us achieve our goals, it represents a potential opportunity.

On the other hand, if such an event might distract us from our journey to success, it represents a potential threat.

5. Your Opportunities

Let’s shift attention to how you can transform hurdles into opportunities.

Think of a personal struggle, a career setback, or an unexpected turn of events that has occurred within the past five years and that you have survived.

What was unexpected event?

What was your immediate response?

What was the ultimate outcome of the event?

What does the story of this event mean to you?

Which of the above suggestions, starting with persistence, might have generated a better outcome for you?

Which of the above suggestions, starting with persistence, will be most helpful should another similar unexpected problematic event occur? Why?

Learn More

From my experience, both as a professional advisor and also a human being, a SWOT analysis represents the absolute best way to identify and overcome any kind of challenge or adversity.

If you are not familiar with the term, SWOT is an acronym for the words strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

By extension, a SWOT analysis identifies and analyzes your personal and business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

That’s why it’s the ideal tool for turning your challenges into your success.

To learn more, see Leverage Your Strengths, Grow Your Business.