Turning Challenges Into Your Springboard to Success

15 Oct, 2013

Comments: 0

“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” ~ Bernice Johnson Reagan

We’ve been told time and again that our minds are far more powerful than we can imagine. But when life gets complicated, we become emotionally weak.

It helps to look at the situation from a different perspective. Looking at life from a new angle can be all that is needed to help you overcome the emotional barrier that stops you from concentrating on your work.

Whether its financial problems or something else, the only way to face the challenges you’re facing is to continue working towards your goal.

There are a few tried and tested principles of life, practicing to follow which can help you immensely.

Challenges Are Just A Passing Phase

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. ~ Napoleon Hill

Don’t let your challenges affect your self worth. Don’t start questioning your capability. Look at your situation as a place you’re going through on your journey through life.

The place you’re at doesn’t define you. It’s just a passing phase.

For example, you’re on your vacation and driving through “California.” Does that make you a Californian? Of course not! California is just a place you’re passing through to reach your vacation destination.

Similarly, the phase of life you’re at currently has nothing to do with what you are or the destination you have intended to reach.

But you will be able to reach your destination only when you continue on your journey, considering all stops in between as places you’re crossing. There must certainly be something wrong with the person who stops at every place and considers it his own.

If you’re in a bad situation, this is not what you are. Don’t tie yourself to the situation you’re currently in. Look at this bad experience as a rough road that will soon come to an end. Once you cross this, you’re on your way.

Challenges Are Your Teachers

“To succeed you must first improve, to improve you must first practice, to practice you must first learn, and to learn you must first fail.”

Have you every seen anyone trying to help a chick get out of an egg during hatching? Nobody does that, as it’s a natural process and the chick gets out by itself. It may seem like the chick is struggling when you watch it, but it eventually gets out fine. If you interfere, there is a possibility that the chick may die. The entire process makes the chick stronger and ready to take on life.

You’re like the chick. Your current situation may be something that’s meant to make you stronger. Look at every challenge that faces you as a learning curve that’s an essential part of your life. Don’t hate it. Don’t get burdened by it. The idea is to see how quickly you can get yourself out of such a situation.

The only reason your destination hasn’t arrived yet is because you have these challenges to complete, like hurdles an athlete has to cross on the journey to the finish line.

You fight your way through such challenges by refusing to give up. With that attitude and outlook, you’ll soon make it through.

Don’t Let Your Today Hurt Your Tomorrow

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

If your today is a challenge, let it not ruin your tomorrow. We are all smart and intelligent people capable of reaching great heights. Our minds have immense capacity and strength to overcome all obstacles that stand in our path. Believe it.

Think of yourself as a smart individual capable of handling all challenges. Let not a bad situation take that away from you. Nothing can take away your true value.

Imagine there are people shooting at you. But imagine yourself as having a bullet proof vest that not only protects you from everything, but bounces the bullets back at the shooters. Don’t see yourself falling victim to those bullets. You are invinsible.

The choice is yours to make. Choose to let your challenges affect you or choose to ignore it and pursue your goals.

If you feel cash strapped today, you want to change the situation. If you let the situation affect you emotionally, you lose the ability to improve your situation tomorrow.

I’ve seen many people struggle for years because they don’t allow themselves to come out of their financial troubles. They know what they have to do, but they feel incapacitated and just cannot move ahead. They become weak.

Let that not be you!

The Past Is No Indication Of the Future

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. ~ Steve Jobs

The important thing about life is that everyday is different. Just because you’ve struggled all along until this point, it doesn’t mean the struggle will continue. The beauty of life is the transformation it’s capable of bringing. It can take a complete turn, but it’s up to you to do something to ensure it does change.

Dreamers are people who expect life to change through prayers or hope. That’s not how it works. God helps those who help themselves. Luck favors those who are willing to put in the effort.

Optimism Is Your Best Friend

“You will never climb Everest if you stand at the bottom worrying about how slippery it looks!”

There is no way of knowing what your future holds, unless you have a crystal ball that gives you an accurate picture of what’s awaiting you.

With no knowledge of the future, the only way one can go ahead is by being optimistic. You may not know what’s in store, but there’s a valuable lesson that humans have learned over the centuries – hard work and persistence pay off.

Isn’t that enough motivation for you to be optimistic?

You have two options:

Expect a disaster and be miserable.
Wait for good things to happen; be optimistic and happy.

I have heard many people say that optimism helps keep you happy today, as there’s nothing anyone can do about the future. I don’t agree with this line of thought. I believe that the results of tomorrow are a direct result of our choices of today.

Yes, in spite of doing everything perfectly, it may all fail for several reasons. But those are exceptions and not the norm.

Being optimistic will change two things for you:

You’re going to be happier today.
You’ll be able to do the best you can to make sure your future ends up the way you want it to.

If your future looks bleak today, being optimistic will give you the energy to change it.

Challenges: A Conclusion

When you’re going through some tough challenges, it’s not easy to keep going. Some crumble under the pressure and go into hiding and there are some who start living in a dream world, hoping for good tidings.

Unfortunately, the ONLY WAY you can get out of the bad phase is to work on it. You have to gain the mental ability to keep all negative feelings and worries aside and do what it takes to turn the tables.

Whenever you’re in a depressing situation and feel defeated by life, just stop for a moment to think that this is just a place on your journey and you can’t be here forever. You have to get going and reach your destination.

Are you ready to rise above your challenges?