Moving forward in the face of adversity is one of the best things you can do to build mental resilience, whether you’re talking in terms of business or every day life. In this guide, we’re going to discuss how you can move forward in the face of adversity, no matter what.
Honour The Process And Appreciate It
If you’re going to move forward, you can’t ignore adversity. You need to honour the process and appreciate it. If there’s one thing for sure, it’s that life is full of ups and downs. That’s what makes it so varied and special. You can’t avoid adversity. Make sure you appreciate it for the lessons it is teaching you and know that it is helping you to become a stronger person.
Know That You Have The Freedom To Choose
It’s important to note that when you’re facing adversity, you have the freedom to choose how you respond to people, events, and circumstances. You can either respond in a negative way that limits you, or in a way that is productive and continues to open up windows of opportunity for you. All of us have the freedom to choose our own beliefs, words, thoughts, and the attitude we bring into every situation. Moving forward in the face of adversity will usually mean carefully selecting your thoughts and attitude and then bringing it forward with determination. Whether you’ve been involved in a preventable accident or you’re having problems with your business, you must choose the appropriate attitude to take on.
The internal dialogue you have triggers your emotions, and this will have a lot to do with the thoughts and attitude that you have. To avoid feeling fearful or stressed, avoid thinking or talking negatively about what is going on.
The only things that really matter are as follows:
How you see the obstacle you face
How you respond to this adversity
How you maintain your composure when facing adversity
The story you tell yourself about what is going on
Make sure you tell yourself the right kind of story so that you can move forward!
Be Willing To Let Go
Letting go of expectations you were holding onto in the past may be necessary if plans you had are no longer viable due to a situation that you’re facing. Accept what is going on without resisting it, and accept that some things are out of you control. It doesn’t matter how well you plan ahead, things will not go to plan for many reasons. Unexpected obstacles will set you back. Success isn’t linear! Just call this a plot twist, let go, and move on.
Come Up With A New Plan
In the face of adversity, you have the opportunity to come up with a new plan and do something meaningful. You need to try to stretch yourself, act of desperation, and make things right. Desperation could actually spark your creativity and help you to move forward, providing you make decisions out of love and not fear.
If you’re struggling to come up with a plan because you’re feeling frazzled, you can try using things like deep breathing and affirmations to calm down. Tell yourself things like:
- I am calm and collected
- I can see things rationally
- I’m not attached to a specific outcome anymore
- I am open to the possibilities that may now exist
Take The Time To Recharge
You can still move forward and take time to yourself to recharge. Exercise, spend time in nature, meditate – do things that are going to help bring your spirit back to life and give you more clarity. You should find that your problem solving and improvisation skills improve too!