Adversity as Motivation

A house fire, a skiing accident, being turned down for a renovation, losing out on a promotion, and failing at business. All of these events setup a future success. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of failure but I won’t let it stop me either.

Dealing with adversity comes down to a mindset. Sure, I let myself get mad and even feel sorry for myself when things don’t go the way I want them, but then I focus on the next step, the thing that will turn this bad event into a good outcome. I use the negative energy for a positive outcome.

The Fire

When my wife and I were just dating we decided to stay at my house one evening since I had to go into work the next day, Sunday, and the train station was on the way to her house. Upon arriving at the station, her pager (it was 1997) went off and the message said, “Your house is on fire.”

Thinking it was a joke, she went to check and nothing was ever the same again.

We got mad, we grieved the lost pets, we cried and asked why, but then got to the important work of making sure one tragedy didn’t turn into two. The insurance company tried to low ball us on a settlement but we were well informed (a…