6 Powerful Habits of People Who Turn Adversity Into Opportunity
How to bounce back from inevitable setbacks
As humans, we have an innate desire to avoid adversity.
From ignoring criticism to fleeing pay rise discussions with our superiors, we subconsciously seek comfort and pleasure, not hardship and stress.
Adversity is, however, crucial to understanding our fears and hopes. It is also essential to our social, mental, and professional growth. And this growth ultimately helps us achieve more.
“Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” — William Shakespeare
In all walks of life, high achievers turn adversity into opportunity.
Nobody is immune to failure. What sets successful people apart is their ability to utilize failure.
They don’t fear setbacks, they focus on attaching positive lessons to those setbacks.
On this basis, here are 6 powerful habits of people who turn adversity into opportunity.
1. They don’t fear adversity, they welcome it
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Neale Donald Walsh
No matter where you look, you’ll find that successful people don’t shy away from obstacles.
Jeff Bezos left his high-paying job on Wall Street to found a business that would sell books on something called “the internet.”
Marie Curie had to overcome fierce resistance in her native Poland before becoming the first female Nobel Prize winner in history. And Colonel Sanders’ legendary chicken recipe was rejected 1,001 times.
You don’t have to aim that high. Look at some of the most rewarding experiences in your life. How many of them came without some kind of adversity?
You certainly didn’t run that marathon without feeling the pain. You didn’t pass that college exam without endless hours of tedious studying. And you probably didn’t meet your significant other without overcoming shyness.
Consequently, adversity is necessary. To grow, we need to take on challenges and welcome difficult situations.
If you want to turn obstacles into opportunities, first and foremost, you need to welcome adversity into your life.
2. They take risks but also accept responsibility
Another major habit is the acceptance of responsibility. According to Forbes, taking responsibility is “the highest mark of great leaders.”
Taking on adverse challenges is all well and good, but you also need to accept that you will ultimately bear the responsibility of the outcome.
The challenge resides in finding a balance between boldness, ruthlessness, and reason.
Looking at the lives of high achievers, you’ll notice that most of them found the ideal mix between a bold, risk-taking nature and a reasonable degree of foresight.
In this regard, the only way to learn from mistakes is to accept responsibility, analyze the mechanics of our mistakes, and implement their lessons in the future.
3. They take action instead of reacting
People who turn obstacles into opportunities act before a specific situation forces them to react.
Certain situations are unprecedented, but high achievers usually prepare for adversity.
On par with balancing risk and responsibility, you should always be ready for tougher times.
Personal finance is a classic case in point.
In this context, we commonly see people in six-figure careers struggling to make ends meet.
Why? Because their spending, saving, and investment decisions are reactions, not proactive decisions.
They believe that a higher salary warrants a more expensive car. Their reaction to a pay rise is a rise in spending.
In that same vein, they only start saving when they lose their jobs. And finally, they invest because they realize that having too much cash in the bank is a losing game.
Consequently, if you want to turn adverse situations into opportunities, prepare for adversity.
Put yourself in a position where you’ll be able to act, not just react in the face of adversity.
4. They always think long-term
A long-term growth mindset is key to transforming obstacles into opportunities.
By concentrating your efforts on short-term, instant gratification, you will break a potential long-term growth cycle.
Let’s say your business had its first major profit streak. If you immediately take money out to celebrate your “Insta-entrepreneur” lifestyle with a fancy car, your business will suffer.
You might receive an instant reward, but the long-term growth of your business will be impacted negatively.
Along those lines, you’ll become addicted to short-term success. And when adversity strikes, that short-term mindset will hinder your vision. You’ll be unable to identify opportunities that could arise amid adversity.
High performers think long-term both in rosy and stormy periods.
Wins and adversity are part of a long cycle. And every decision should keep the cycle spinning instead of halting it for instant rewards.
5. They constantly learn
Akin to taking responsibility, learning from adversity is an indispensable habit.
Lots of people falsely believe that high achievers never make mistakes.
Warren Buffett might be the “Oracle of Omaha”, but not all of his investments succeed. Kobe Bryant missed more shots than any other player in NBA history. And even Jeff Bezos had some highly unprofitable ideas. Remember the Fire Phone?
The difference is that high performers learn from their mistakes, assess the roots, and don’t make the same mistake twice.
In times of trouble, you need to shift your thoughts from despondency to receptivity. What lessons are being served on a silver platter right now?
Once you’ve built a lesson-seeking habit, you start to see useful elements in failure.
You learn how to cherry-pick the positives out of every negative situation. And this ability to learn from adversity will help you turn the next obstacle into an opportunity.
6. They focus on progress, not perfection
Finally, people who turn adversity into opportunities are progress-addicted, but also perfection-adverse.
Perfection is a farce. Nothing is perfect, and seeking perfection leads to disappointment and apathy.
Once you’ve developed a growth mindset, progress becomes the symbol of success. And this progress remains essential during periods of adversity.
When you’re focused on progress, adversity becomes an external bystander. You’ll be much less inclined to react negatively to short-term mistakes or periods of uncertainty.
As an example, if you struggle to attract readers with your writing, you could adopt two different approaches.
You could think that you’re a bad writer. Or you could tell yourself that you’re progressing.
Both sound similar, but they are inherently different.
If you think that your writing sucks, you might try to improve it, but you’ll approach that journey of improvement with a negative attitude.
If you, on the other hand, see your current writing shortcomings as a part of your progress, your presuppositions are positive. And this positivity will help you find opportunities at the current stage of your writing career.
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