The Game of Adversity: 8 Principles to Turn Life's Toughest Moments into Your Greatest Opportunities
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The document outlines eight principles that help individuals turn life's challenges into opportunities for growth and success. It emphasizes the importance of a growth mindset, respecting the process, focusing on controllable aspects, self-awareness, clarity of purpose, learning from the experiences of others, preparation, and gratitude. Through examples and insights, the author encourages embracing adversity as a catalyst for personal development and resilience.
The Game of Adversity: 8 Principles to Turn Life's Toughest Moments into Your Greatest Opportunities
- 1. How To TURN Life’s Toughest Challenges Into Your Greatest Opportunities (Or, 8 Building Blocks to Turn Every Problem Into a Good Thing) N I C K D I N A R D O
- 3. How do you approach life’s challenges? When you hear the word “struggle” what comes to mind? How do we build a life worth living? One that we are proud of? How Do You Solve Your Problems?
- 4. The most successful people on the planet find a way to turn every difficulty into their greatest hits collection. And most of them used a variation of the 8 principles I’ll lay out here. They find a way to make sure that failure does not destroy them, but is the very reason they prosper. Here’s the Secret
- 5. Benjamin Franklin was Wrong FRANKLIN ONCE SAID “IN THIS WORLD NOTHING CAN BE CERTAIN, EXCEPT DEATH AND TAXES. HE WAS WRONG. There are three things in this world that are certain: death, taxes, and adversity. Call it what you want: adversity, struggle, challenge, failure, obstacles…we ALL stare it down at one point or another each day, week, month, and year of our lives.
- 6. What’s the story YOU tell yourself about adversity? Because the story you tell yourself will decide your fate. Adversity creates opportunity. Each moment should be leaned into, not avoided.
- 7. We can learn the skills necessary to use adversity to our advantage. Respected research in brain science and psychology reveal how. And to boot, human stories from around the world demonstrate it’s power.
- 8. I’ve built a formula for developing a skillset for the inevitable battles with adversity. Worked on together, you’ll be able to turn every adversity moment to your advantage. Sports provides a powerful vessel in which to illustrate these principles. Here’s a sneak peek at how you can use them to overcome adversity
- 9. Principle ONE “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took TO BLOSSOM” - Anais Nin MINDSET
- 10. THE GROWTH MINDSET The growth mindset is the cornerstone…the keystone habit, to using adversity to your advantage. The growth mindset is the first step – and the most important one – in getting everything right.
- 11. “In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits…In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it” – Carol Dweck, Acclaimed Psychologist THE GROWTH MINDSET
- 12. Bill Walsh – hall of fame head coach and GM of the San Francisco 49ers – effectively used the principles of growth mindset to change the San Francisco 49ers from worst team in the NFL to a winning dynasty. HE focused everyone – from the receptionist to the quarterback – to do everything through the lens of learning and growth. Whether it was tying your shoelace or throwing the winning touchdown, everything was done through his standard of performance. Today, he is now known as one of the most PROLIFIC AND innovative coaches of all time. BILL WALSH
- 13. Principle TWO “IF THE PATH BE BEAUTIFUL, LET US NOT ASK WHERE IT LEADS” - ANATOLE FRANCE RESPECT THE PROCESS
- 14. The understanding of the process is crucial. By really knowing anD understanding the process we can take advantage of our “human compound interest”. The more we focus on the process rather than the outcome, the more we focus on practicing rather than the trophy, the more likely we will get the trophy. Focusing on the small steps makes the big steps PSYCHOLOGCIALLY and psychically surmountable. THE SANCTITY OF PROCESS
- 15. Michelle Kwan – the most decorated figure skater in u.s. history – spent her entire skating career “respecting the process”. After a disappointing silver medal in the 1998 Olympics, people questioned why she was returning to compete in the 2002 Olympic games. Kwan responded “When people say I stayed to win the Olympics, no, I stayed in to tRY and win the olympics”. It wasn’t the end goal that mattered – It was the work that did. It was the drip-drip-drip process of constantly learning, constantly improving, that mattered to her. She ended her career career with five world championships and nine u.s. championships.” MICHELLE KWAN
- 16. Principle THREE “To be in hell is to drift; to be in heaven is to steer” - George Bernard Shaw Focus on what you can control
- 17. We are all faced with constraints – whether social, racial, or socioeconomic. Stoicism posits that focusing on what we cannot control is a destructive emotion, and that the healthier, more productive strategy is to focus on what we can control. And they’re right. Wasting our mental energy on things we can’t influence distracts our mind from thoughts and action that can benefit us and others. THE POWER OF CONTROL
- 18. Jim Abbott was a remarkable athlete. As of 2014, there have been 239 no-hitters in Major League Baseball history. Jim Abbott was one of them. Yet, what makes this no-hitter more unique than anything – and what makes Jim’s athletic life more unique than anything else – is that he was born with no right hand. It was a constraint that made him focus on what he could control. And despite his impediment, he not only succeeded, but succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Jim abbott
- 19. Principle FOUR “I HAVE BEEN AND STILL AM A SEEKER, BUT I HAVE CEASED TO QUESTION STARS AND BOOKS; I HAVE BEGUN TO LISTEN TO THE TEACHING My BLOOD WHISPERS TO ME” – HERMANN HESSE SELF-AWARENESS
- 20. SELF-AWARENESS IS A SENSE OF KNOWINg WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU’RE DOING, AND HOW THIS ALL FITS INTO THE COMPLICATED CHAOS OF YOUR LIFE. Depending on our self-awareness, we adjust how and where we improve our circumstances. Based on our self-awareness, we apply a narrative about what our lives are and how we should go about it. THE science OF self-awareness
- 21. D u r i n g h i s f i r s t s e a s o n i n t h e N F L w i t h t h e n e w yo r k g i a n t s , v i n c e l o m b a r d i d i d n ’ t g e t t h e r e s p e c t f r o m h i s p l ay e r s t h at h e wa n t e d . H i s p l ay e r s d i d n ’ t v i b e w i t h h i s aw k wa r d , h a r d e n e d c o a c h i n g s t y l e , a n d a s h i s f i r s t y e a r p r o g r e s s e d , t h e t o l l wa s u n b e a r a b l e . B u t l o m b a r d i l o o k e d i n s i d e h i m s e l f. H e a p p r o a c h e d t h e m o s t r e s p e c t e d p l ay e r s o n t h e o f f e n s e , h at i n h a n d , t o s e e h o w h e c o u l d i m p r o v e a n d e a r n t h e i r r e s p e c t. A n d s u r e e n o u g h , h e c h a n g e d . S o d i d t h e p l ay e r s . V i n c e l o m b a r d i w o n f i v e n f l c h a m p i o n s h i p s , i n c l u d i n g t h e f i r s t t w o s u p e r b o w l s . T h e s u p e r b o w l t r o p h y i s n a m e d i n h i s h o n o r . VINCE LOMBARDI
- 22. Principle FIVE “He who has a why to live for can bare almost any how” – friedrich nietzche The clarity of PURPOSE
- 23. THE CLARITY OF PURPOSE It’s not about how much money you can make or how many cars you can buy. It’s about focusing on a higher purpose – something larger than yourself. In positive psychology, more notably in Seligman’s research, the good life, the pleasant life, and the full life are all very much available options. But the full life offers the most: it’s the life where you have the pleasures, the engagement , the purpose, and the mission. Focus on the goals that are bigger than you, while also channeling your efforts closer to a higher purpose, and you’ll reap the benefits.
- 24. Terry fox Terry Fox – a young Canadian athlete – was diagnosed with cancer, just when his collegiate athletic career was starting to look up. When he was forced to amputate his leg, Fox noticed the other children in the hospital. Their suffering was something he would never forget. Fox started a movement – the Marathon for Hope – to raise $1 dollar for every Canadian in the country. After his death, the results of his efforts soon exceeded anything he would ever dream of - $650 million, while also increasing cure rates for osteosarcoma by 80%. Today, he is a celebrated hero in Canada.
- 25. Principle SIX “great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed. It is all part of the fairy tale.” - Peter s. beagle STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
- 26. Standing on the shoulders of giants Standing on the shoulders of giants is about using the stories of those around you to propel you even further than you thought possible. From the war-torn, snowy pastorals of the American Revolution to the penniless, New Yorker arguments of your grandparents, from big to small, thousands of years to just now, all lives have been defined by struggle. But to overcome that struggle, people appreciated the adversity around them. People appreciated the stories of those who had overcome much greater odds. And they used these narratives to fuel their own lives.
- 27. BILL BELICHICKB i l l b e l i c h i c k i s t h e h e a d c o a c h o f t h e n e w e n g l a n d pat r i o t s , a n d a 6 -t i m e s u p e r b o w l c h a m p i o n . W i t h a l l o f b e l i c h i c k ’ s s u c c e s s , h e b e l i e v e s h e o w e s m u c h t o t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s p r o v i d e d t o h i m . H e s ta n d s o n t h e s h o u l d e r s o f g i a n t s . F o r m a n y r e a s o n s : t h e f o r t i t u d e o f h i s g r a n d pa r e n t s e m i g r at i n g t o t h e U . S . , t h e c o a c h e s , o w n e r s , a n d p l ay e r s t h at d e v e l o p e d t h e g a m e o f f o o t b a l l i n t o t h e s p o r t i t i s t o d ay, a n d t h e p e o p l e i n h i s t o r y w h o h av e a l l o w e d u s t o b e f r e e , s a f e , a n d pav e d t h e way f o r t h e p u r s u i t o f h a p p i n e s s . A n d m o s t o f a l l , h i s fat h e r , s t e v e . T h i s b e l i e f p r o v i d e s t h e c o n t e x t a n d b l u e p r i n t t o s u c c e e d , t h r o u g h m e n t o r s h i p, e f f o r t, a n d c h a r a c t e r .
- 28. Principle SEVEN “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” – Abraham Lincoln WHAT IT TAKES TO BE COOL
- 29. What it takes to be cool Training is authority. As obvious as it may seem, preparation is really at the center of doing anything well. You prepare, you do well, you’re cool. You don’t prepare, and it’s a disaster. We can learn to be cool under adversity if we treat it like we do a sporting event. If we treat adversity with the right preparation, we give ourselves the opportunity to better deal with it under pressure. When we prepare, we can keep a cool head under pressure because we’ve already tasted the pressure.
- 30. ARTHUR ASHE Arthur Ashe carried himself the way he played tennis - with serenity and grace. Whether he was facing tennis giants like Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg in the 70’s or talking to inner-city youth, his ability to be cool under pressure and even-keel was his greatest and most crucial asset. For an African-American tennis legend back in a time of great racial prejudice with the added burden of HIV, Ashe’s coolness on and off the court was nothing short of inspiring.
- 31. Principle EIGHT “do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for” - epicurus FEELING LUCKY
- 32. The importance of feeling lucky Appreciate the magnitude of your moment here on Earth as an irrefutable byproduct of the historical human response to adversity. With perspective, we can remove ourselves from snap judgments, from getting too high or too low on ourselves, and become grateful for the work put in before us. From your friends to your co- workers, adversity touches everyone you know. As much as you want to avoid it, better to meditate in it’s wake rather than be held in it’s grip.
- 33. LOU GEHRIG“ Fa n s , f o r t h e pa s t t w o w e e k s yo u h av e b e e n r e a d i n g a b o u t t h e b a d b r e a k I g o t. Y e t t o d ay I c o n s i d e r m y s e l f t h e l u c k i e s t m a n o n t h e fa c e o f t h i s e a r t h . I h av e b e e n i n b a l l pa r k s f o r 1 7 y e a r s a n d h av e n e v e r r e c e i v e d a n y t h i n g b u t k i n d n e s s a n d e n c o u r a g e m e n t f r o m yo u fa n s ” - L o u G e h r i g , M L B p l ay e r , a f t e r b e i n g d i a g n o s e d w i t h A L S , a m u s c l e d e g e n e r at i v e d i s e a s e
- 34. LEARN EXACTLY WHAT IT TAKES TO TURN EVERY PROBLEM, EVERY DIFFICULTY, AND EVERY LOSS INTO ONE OF YOUR GREATEST MOMENTS. STOP LOSING. START WINNING. VISIT NICKDINARDO.COM BUY THE BOOK TODAY.