Overcoming Adversity and Ending the Cycle of Negativity

Overcoming adversity and ending the cycle of negativity is crucial during certain seasons in our lives.

Have you ever encountered a hardship within your organization or personal life that resulted in a positive outcome? If you’re a leader, whether, in your personal life or business life, you’ve most definitely experienced adversity. John C Maxwell, best-selling author, and leadership guru explains three methods for overcoming adversity and how to end the cycle of negativity before it begins:

1. Recognize that adversity doesn’t exist to bog you down, but rather to teach.
We can see adversity as a burden – as simply a mountain to climb – or we can see it as an opportunity to strengthen our bodies and minds for future obstacles. We learn from moments of difficulty – and once we reach the peak of the mountain, things are much clearer. Then, we’re prepared for the next mountain to climb.

2. When you encounter adversity, take a step back, assess the situation, and determine the best next steps.
When adversity is running high, it’s likely that emotions are as well. In order to best overcome hardships, we must take a step back from the problem. With a moment out of the chaos and our minds clear, we see the good aspects of the situation. From there, we can determine how best to overcome the issue. 

3. Remember why you started on the path in the first place.
In moments of adversity, it’s easy to get discouraged and feel like everything is against us. However, keep goals in perspective and focus on the original motivation to begin the journey, then the adversity will seem like a minute speed bump in the road. Those tiny obstacles can make the end success that much sweeter.

Overall, “Adversity writes our story and if our response is right, the story will be good.”  — John C Maxwell

See the entire John Maxwell article here.