Have you had a failure recently? Does it seem like everyone else is getting ahead while you’re falling behind? Failure can be painful. Dispiriting. Lonely. Sometimes, it’s hard to get back on track. However, there’s good news. You can learn to overcome adversity.

At BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, we work with some of the top Overcoming Adversity Keynote Speakers. These speakers are athletes, entrepreneurs, and researchers who have faced adversity in their personal and professional lives and learned to overcome it.

Here is some of their advice on how to overcome adversity to get you started.

1) Choose how to react.

According to James Lawrence, an empowering speaker and endurance world record holder who completed 50 full-distance triathlons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days (50.50.50), overcoming adversity comes down to making a choice. Bad things will happen, and setbacks will occur, but you can choose how you react to what happens to you. You can fall down and stay down or get up and keep going.

2) Learn to overcome the pain in your mind.

According to inspirational keynote speaker and National Geographic Explorer Albert Lin, pain is only in your mind. Physical pain, mental pain, and spiritual pain all reside in your head. If you can learn to remap your mind to let go of the pain, you can learn to overcome adversity and move forward.

3) Avoid rejecting yourself first.

In life, everyone gets rejected. People get rejected by banks, employers, and consumers. According to Jia Jiang, a resilience expert and bestselling author of Rejection Proof, the worst thing you can do is reject yourself first. If you reject yourself first, no one will ever hear your idea, get your resume, or learn about your product. However, if you take a chance to risk rejection, you give yourself a chance to succeed.

4) Keep showing up.

When you have a setback, the key is to try again. According to entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso, founder of the multimillion-dollar fashion brand Nasty Gal and Trust Fund, when you say you’re done—you’re done. However, if you keep showing up after facing adversity, people will keep showing up for you.

5) Use the 48-Hour Rule.

When suffering a setback, it’s okay to feel bad about how events turned out. According to former Olympic skier and keynote speaker Jeremy Bloom, who failed to win a medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, give yourself 48 hours to feel bad after any setback. Once that two-day mourning period is over, take the time to learn from your setbacks and try new things. 

6) Refuse to quit.

For Molly Bloom, Olympic athlete and bestselling author of Molly’s Game, the way to overcome adversity is to refuse to quit. According to Molly, the people who overcome adversity are not the most talented or the most intelligent. Instead, the people who prevail when things go south are the people who refuse to quit or fail.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to overcome adversity, contact BigSpeaks Bureau today to book a keynote speaker.

For more on overcoming adversity, read

10 Overcoming Adversity Keynote Speakers to Help You Develop a Resilient Mindset