“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” — Napoleon Hill, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude

Our greatest stories and triumphs center around facing adversity. Often, we come out the other side better, wiser, and stronger. While adversity is where our greatest growth lies, we often run away from it instead of embracing the challenge. Facing adversity can be difficult—especially if you’re not prepared.

At BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, we want to help prepare you to overcome adversity. We work with some of the top Overcoming Adversity keynote speakers in the industry. They are athletes, company founders, and military leaders who have faced extreme challenges and came away with lessons to help others overcome their own adversity.

If you would like to learn more, here are five tips to get you started for overcoming adversity.

Rejection Is Only an Opinion

Rejection is not the disaster we all think it is. Resilience keynote speaker and bestselling author of Rejection Proof Jia Jiang says rejection is only the opinion of the rejector. There is no such thing as universal rejection or acceptance. A person or business can turn you down for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with you personally or the value of your work or ideas. It’s just as likely the next person you meet will accept you or your idea.

Use the S.O.S. Method 

When facing stressful situations, emotional intelligence expert and bestselling author of Performance Under Pressure JP Pawliw-Fry suggests we use the S.O.S. method. Often we perform our worst in stressful situations. One way to improve our response is to S: Stop what we’re doing (take a time out or go for a walk); O: Breathe in some oxygen, and then S: Seek information. In adverse situations, our focus often narrows and we make decisions based on quick assumptions. If we take more time to stop, breathe, and gather more information, it will help us handle difficult situations.

Embrace Change

Adverse situations often become worse if we don’t adapt to the new circumstances. Leadership expert and author of In-Extremis Leadership Thomas Kolditz says sometimes you need to abandon your current goals and create new ones, or you won’t overcome adversity. For example, when US automobile companies faced competition from Japan with cheaper and more fuel-efficient cars, they didn’t adapt to more fuel-efficient cars because that wasn’t part of their plan. And they fell behind for many years and some almost went out of business.

Be Ruled by “Hope of Success” Rather Than “Fear of Failure”

Often, we let fear of failure paralyze us. The key is how we think about the situation. Robyn Benincasa, an inspired leadership and teamwork expert and New York Times bestselling author of How Winning Works, suggests people change their mindset. Instead of focusing on all of the things you are worried might happen, Robyn suggests focusing on and planning your next moves based on where you WANT to go. This mindset helped her team overcome adversity and become World Champions in Adventure Racing.

You Can Always Do One More

When you think you’re at the end of your rope—physically, mentally, or spiritually—don’t quit. Remember it’s always possible to do one more. It could be one more lap, one more task, or just one more minute. This is how overcoming adversity keynote speaker and athlete James Lawrence was able to complete the Conquer One Hundred— racing a full-distance triathlon for 100 consecutive days. In fact, he went one more and did 101 full-distance triathlons. It’s when we go one more that we expand our ability to do things.

If you want to learn more about how to overcome adversity, book an Overcoming Adversity Speaker form BigSpeak Speakers Bureau today.

For More on Adversity See:

6 Tips From Adversity Experts for Leading in Tough Times

Finding Growth Opportunities in Times of Adversity

Use Your Emotional Intelligence to Perform Under Pressure

5 Ways to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Exercises You Can do for Two Minutes A Day to Immediately Feel Happier

8 Essential Leadership Lessons from the Toughest Teams on Earth

18 Truths You’ll Find When You Stop Fearing Rejection