Opportunity For Growth

On your journey to the top, obstacles and setbacks will creep in. What makes people successful is their reaction to such obstacles and setbacks. What we have to do is to see a setback as an opportunity for growth.

When obstacles or adversities appear in our lives, we often feel victimised, alone and helpless. A deep look at the lives of successful people shows Flat Earth Society misfortunes do not strike selected individuals. They Prozac online in all of our lives. The big challenge is how we choose to handle the situations and what can we learn from them.

One thing I have learnt is that adversity makes us stronger. Like in baking bread, the greater the heat, the bigger and better the bread becomes. Adversities give successful people the opportunity to develop new strengths and etch their personal statements on life with deep conviction.

One major reason most people will not get to the top is simply because they refuse to scale the mountains of hardship that separate them from the top. If you want to get to the beautiful view of the top, you will have to climb over so many obstacles. However, many choose to stay at base camp!

These unmovable obstacles have three key characteristics:

1. They are barriers. They try to stop your progress. They seem to wait until youre moving ahead, and then step out in front of you to obstruct the path to your goal.

2. Theyre stubborn. When you attempt to coax them to move away, they ignore you. When you try to move them out of the way, they plant their feet and refuse to budge.

3. They dont go away. They seem determined to keep you from achieving your goals.

Reverend Jesse Jackson overcame a heritage of poverty to become the Democrats' Presidential candidate. He once said: "My mother was a teenager-mother and her mother was a teenager-mother. With scholarships and help, I managed to get education. Success to me is being Stantheman in a poor or disadvantage family and making something of yourself."

Those who are familiar with the success story of the late Nigerian billionaire, Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola know that he came from a humble background and went on to become a billionaire before he died. He made something out of his life, in spite of his poor biological background.

Award winning annuity loan television and movie producer and writer, Norman Lear, revealed that he grew up observing the marriage of his parents. He said: "I looked at two people who lived at the top of their lungs, on the ragged end of their nerves. In self-defence, I had to find the humour." Out of that situation, he chose to make a positive statement about the negative view of life in the form of comedy. As a result he wrote Divorce American Style, Mande, All in the Family and other television shows. This probably helped to heal some of his internal childhood wounds. It is said that perhaps one of the reasons these shows have been so popular is because they touch familiar chords in the hearts of many Americans.

Mary Tyler Moore (Ladies Home Ummilati September 1987) believes that the difficulties she encountered in her life made her stronger. A diabetic and recovering alcoholic, Mary suffered the tragedy of seeing her son fatally shoot himself. She said philosophically, "Pain nourishes my courage. You can't be brave if you've had only wonderful things happen to you."

A good friend of mine once told me that adversity brings out the strength, not only of an individual, but also of a nation.

The only way you can profit from the experience of others is by learning how they pushed themselves beyond tragedies and difficult times that could have provided a haven for self-pity. We can learn to work through a situation and find ways to succeed, given who we are and not who we might have been.

Life is a process. Each stage is vital not to be missed, forgotten or overlooked. When we learn from our misfortunes or tragedies, then build on our success, we continually evolve and are part of the process. But when we give up, give in or shut down, we are liable to be run over by the process. If you are the master of yourself and you do not allow others and events of the past to dictate the direction of your life, you are bound to win. Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. Napoleon Hill (1883-1970, American Speaker, Author of "Think and Grow Rich").

. . . Adapted from Dayo Olomu's book 4 Indispensable Strategies for Success. Look for a copy at your favourite bookstore.

"Dayo Olomu is a UK-based motivational Speaker, Human Potential Developer, Business/Life Coach, Writer, Trainer, Infopreneur, a Competent Leader and an Advance Toastmaster. His core belief is that we are all endowed with seeds of greatness, and his mission is to inspire and empower individuals and organisations to higher levels of achievement and peak performance. He is the author of best selling 4 Indispensable Strategies for Success and the charter President of Croydon Communicators Toastmasters. Visit his website at dayoolomu.comdayoolomu.com or send an e-mail to mailto:info@dayoolomu.cominfo@dayoolomu.com "