Four strategies for turning adversity to advantage.
By Robert and
Jeantte Lauer
Julio Iglesias was
a professional soccer player in Madrid when a car crash ended his
career and left him paralyzed for a year and a half. A sympathetic
nurse gave Iglesias a guitar to help pass the time in the hospital.
Through he had no prior musical aspirations, Iglesias went on to
become a huge success in the pop-music field.
Iglesias accident
marked a watershed in his life, a turning point after which
everything changed. A watershed can come in the form of an illness,
an accident or a random encounter; it can be any event , positive or
negative , that significantly affects the course of a person's life.
After interviewing 632 people, we've come up with the four
strategies for mastering life's unpredictable moments and
transforming them into opportunities for growth:
ASSUME
RESPONSILBILTY FOR YOURSELF
“Time heals all
wounds,” the adage assures us. But life experience shows that many
people do not fully recover from a crisis, despite the promised
healing of time. It is important, then, to deal actively with painful
experiences such as illness, death, divorce or the loss of a job.
Some people cope by blaming God, fate or others. But the simple truth
is: ultimately we have to assume responsibility for our own lives.
Amy was divorced
by her husband after 24 years of marriage. With neither the education
to pursue a particular career nor the belief in herself to support
such a move, she could have slipped into self-pity and stagnated.
Instead, she took
responsibility for herself. “I wanted to move beyond the hurt and
make something to my life,” she says. “So I took a real-estate
course, got my license and eventually opened my own office . Soon
I'll be one of the largest independent brokers in this city.”
MAKE TOUGH CHOICES
The range of
experiences people defined as watersheds was considerable. Women were
far more likely to cite problems with other people. Men typically
mentioned encerrines related to education or career. Tose who gained
most through such encerrines felt it is not possible to grow by
avoiding risk and hoping all will turn out well. People grow because
of the decisions they make.
David Hartman, the
former host of American TV's Good Morning America,” graduated from
college with a degree in economics. Many attractive business
opportunities beckoned, but Hartman – who had worked part-time in
college as a radio and TV announcer – made a tough decision. He
turned his back on years of academic training and, forgoing financial
security, began a career in the highly uncertain
entertainment/communications field.
Risk frequently
pays large dividends . The career of entertainer. Mary Martin soared
after a talent show at a Hollywood nightclub sang a waltz called “ll
Bacio”(The Kiss). For fun, she decided to jazz up the middle part.
She began in traditional fashion, in her best operatic voice. Then
she let loose.
She finished to a
standing ovation and a new career.
In his
autobiography, Chrysler chairmen Lee Iacocca writes that
decisiveness- the ability to make a decision and act on it- is the
mark of good manager. It is also the mark of anyone else willing to
risk- and to grow and become his or her own person.
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