Life throws us curveballs, doozies, roadblocks, and if we are lucky, we get a few lay-ups, but sometimes you have to take unexpected approaches to adversity in order to win.
The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster, more specifically they’ve been other people’s catastrophes that I found myself quickly sucked into because helping others is what I know how to do best. It’s how I respond to watching those in turmoil when I know I can either immediately help or directly change or challenge their perspective for a more favorable outcome.
I’m that chick who makes other people’s challenges my calling.
As I sat back this weekend, it hit me that unexpected hurdles, inconsistent outcomes and pain are equal opportunity hardships— they can happen to any of us at any given time. It’s not the circumstances that shape us, it’s how we respond to them that makes us a boss.
If I think back to my hardest times (no guesses—my divorce almost killed me and my spirit), they were people with more sensitivity to some of my issues and feelings than others. I tried to lean on the best people who could provide the best perspective, but I was really looking for the calm and clarity that their conversation provided to me in my time of need. We all have these life events that hit us so hard that reality is instantly blurry, call your friend who can help you concisely channel coping mechanisms and clarity, not the friend who tells you want you want to hear.
Who you lean on, even if only to vent can either exacerbate or eliminate the feelings you have and how you approach each passing day. No one said life was going to be easy.
And, your goals are bigger than your grief.
The topic of elevation and acceleration is so popular that it applies to not only reaching higher for positive good, but also how quickly something can become bad and turbulent to our spirit.
Turbulence welcomes havoc, not harmony.
It can become a cycle that only you can solve.
It is our maturity and life experience that allows us to stay calm throughout the storm, and even more importantly, it informs how we show up not just for ourselves, but for others. Many move through adversity with a system that helps them to stay calm, analyze, compare your options, set a plan and adjust accordingly to execute and actually make something happen. That’s the way to rise above the hardship, whether it’s your own or someone else’s.
If you’re building, impacting and acting as a change agent, you have to fight your way to the top. The fight is designed to drain you and everyone you touch so that you become consumed with “the thing” instead of your mission. Focus on maintaining your drive and determination despite the bull$h!t.
There will always be distractions, someone will always invite drama, you’ll likely often want to jump in and help, but don’t let it derail your mindset away from your wins!
What’s sucking you in and keeping you away from success???
Let’s handle it and keep it moving.
Lauren Maillian has been an entrepreneur her entire career since starting her first business at 19 – an internationally recognized and award-winning vineyard and winery that made her the youngest self-made winery owner in the country. She sold that business at 26 and started a marketing company, followed by becoming a founding partner at an early stage venture capital firm. That’s 3 businesses built before 30 and by age 26 earned her a coveted honor, being named to the Empact 100 List at the White House for being one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under 30 in 2011. She is a bestselling author of The Path Redefined, a television personality and former co-star and host of the startup focused television show Quit Your Day Job.
