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Would you like to learn a skill set and technique so powerful
that you could learn to recycle every failure, disappointment,
setback and discouraging situation into a steppingstone for your
success? Would you like to go into every situation with
confidence knowing you will have the skills to convert it into
an experience with a positive benefit? Imagine skilled and
highly trained fighters going into a difficult and scary
situation. They don't go looking for it, but when it comes, they
are ready and prepared. They realize it will probably be very
painful and even scary, but with their training and developed
skill set, their odds are favorable. You have an opportunity to
use the same approach to adversities and difficulties entering
our lives. We don't go looking for adversity; it finds us. We
can?t necessarily avoid pain or suffering, but if we use our
training, we have a better chance for survival and eventually
find some benefit or lesson we can take and claim a victory.
Change, difficulties and adversity will happen. Your only point
of control is the surfing skill set you develop to adapt and
make the best out of whatever comes your way. It is not really
what happens to you that matters as much as your response to
what happens. Your response determines your outcome. Think of
change and adversity as waves of the ocean, then consider your
response to those waves. Success is not necessarily in your
talents and abilities, but in the choices you make in
application to the waves. You can't change or fight the wave.
Your only real choice is to adapt to it. Apply the S.U.R.F.
Strategy? to Make the Best of the Waves The S.U.R.F. Strategy is
a simple, quick strategy to adapt and positively respond to
whatever waves come your way. This keeps your attitude as an
ally working for you rather than an adversary working against
you. You cannot control the waves; you can only control your
response and develop the skills to adapt to whatever comes your
way. The Four Steps of the S.U.R.F. Strategy The S.U.R.F.
strategy involves four steps: * Survey the situation *
Understand your options * Respond based on your goals * Forward
focus in action and attitude 1. Survey the Situation When you
are tumbled by a wave (adversity), you have to regain your
bearing and figure out exactly where you are. Leave emotion
behind and survey your situation. What new opportunities might
be found or developed? Now is the opportunity to create a new
plan. It might be tempting to get caught up in the heat of the
moment and feel like you are without options. Take a step back
to gain perspective. With an understanding of where you are and
what choices you have, you can make the most of the
opportunities. 2. Understand Your Options After you know where
you are, begin to assess options for moving forward. Focus only
on solutions. After you survey your situation, it?s time to make
way for positive solutions and options. Ask questions like:
?What can I gain?? or ?What contacts can I make?? Maintain a
positive outlook regardless of the situation ? even if you do
not immediately see the opportunity. Stay focused on the outcome
you want and where you want to go. Look optimistically for
creative ways to use the situation for good ? don?t lament your
misfortune. The opportunity may be hidden. Learn to look for it.
This is a creative success habit, and it only comes with
practice. Become an opportunity farmer. Look for the hidden
benefits behind each change and every situation. 3. Respond
Based on Your Goals Now assess the options in front of you. Some
may be better than others. Some may be more complicated or
difficult to see. Weigh the pros and cons of each option. You
might find your best option right now is to persist in your
current situation. You may find yourself riding a wave bigger
than you think you can handle. It may be a wild ride, but at
least it will be interesting. Remember, you always have choices.
The only thing you can control is your attitude. Regardless of
the wave, you have the power to choose. Make sure your response
is in line with your goals. 4. Forward Focus in Action and
Attitude You can?t surf yesterday?s wave. The past is the past.
Now it is time to think creatively toward the future. Take
positive action. Don?t let things happen to you. Create the
conditions and outcomes you seek! Now that you are surfing the
wave, maintain focus on where you want to go and what you want
to do. Maintain a vivid mental image of your successful future
finding ways to keep taking action in that direction. When Bad
Surf Happens to Good Surfers As you surf life?s waves, you will
see good waves and bad ones. You will have some awesome rides
and some gnarly wipe outs. You will meet fellow surfers who want
to help you out and those who would rather beat you down. There
will be sunny days to enjoy the beach. There will also be storms
that take away your enjoyment and opportunity as the sea becomes
unstable and unsuitable for your purposes. Injustice, rude
people, hardships, difficulties and even some bad things will
happen in your life. We cannot control those. The only thing we
can control is our attitude and the actions we choose to take in
response. Living is not about playing it safe. Test yourself.
Learn the full measure of your surfing ability. Do not hide from
the waves. You can learn from both your great rides and your
wipe outs. Opportunity does not come to the passive. Be active
and create your opportunities. Sometimes opportunities only come
through difficult situations. Adversity doesn?t build character,
it reveals it. How you choose to respond to adversity reveals
your true character. Your true character is uncovered in the
actions of your response and in the choices you make. Your
character is revealed in the promises you keep and in the
convictions you hold true. Ultimately, your character is a
mirror of the guiding principles in your life. What you do and
say reveal to the world who you are. You Cannot Control the
Weather Neither you nor I can control the weather. We cannot
control what it will be today and we cannot affect in any way
what it will be tomorrow. It is what it is. The same weather
will make some people joyous and others miserable. When there is
a snow day that shuts down everything, kids rejoice, while
parents who need to miss work or scramble for child care do not.
Rain is great when the farmers need it for the crops and
devastating when the river peaks the levies. Hot sunny days are
fantastic for people to enjoy a picnic, yet miserable when you
are in the field working. Weather in itself is neither good nor
bad. It is up to us in our decision of how we choose to weather
our personal storms and whether they leave us stronger and more
resolute or weakened and cowering until the next one. In the
same way, adversities are going to come your way, just like the
waves of the ocean. All you can really do about them is learn to
surf . . . and convert challenges, difficulties and hardships
into opportunities.
About the author:
By Frank F. Lunn, President and CEO, Kahuna Empowerment, Inc.,
and author of the E-book, "Blessings In Adversity: Convert
Challenges, Difficulties an Hardships Into Blessings and New
Opportunities." Download it for free, and find out more about
the Blessings In Adversity Campaign, at
http://www.blessingsinadversity.com.
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