Success Advice
7 Ways to Face Adversity Using the Power of Extreme Ownership
Adversity is an inevitable part of our lives, and it is an important and defining factor of our personal story. The stories we build for ourselves in the face of adversity will either empower or discourage us emotionally, help us move forward or remain stuck in the past, allow us to grow or to decline.
The way we respond to adversity is a real choice we have to make and embrace because it will determine how we live our lives. Most people never see adversity in a positive light, thinking that the universe is out to get them, because they don’t want to take complete responsibility for their lives, but prefer to blame anyone else for all the hardship.
Even in situations that are genuinely out of your control, fault and ownership should not be confused. It may be the case that dramatic events happen, that we neither can prevent nor predict, like losing someone close, health issues, or a global pandemic! It may not be our fault they happened, but it is still our responsibility how we decide to live our life after that, how happy we want to be and how involved in deciding our own fate.
To change our perspective on adversity, and use it as a tool for personal development, we have to choose the way we respond to people and events purposely. There is the alternative to embrace fatalism, the negative approach where anything besides us is at fault, or we can choose to respond with resilience and ownership.
Extreme ownership is a term that was coined by two former U.S. Navy SEAL officers, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. It entails several hard truths we have to be ready to accept. It starts with acknowledging the fact that we are entirely responsible for everything that happens to us, and with that comes the necessity to admit and own each mistake, the commitment to our continual and relentless self-improvement, and the need to build better, stronger relationships.
What are some of the ways to mitigate adversity?
1. Acceptance
One of life’s certainties is change, and that means there will always be challenges to face, relationships to manage and hardships to overcome. If we accept that we cannot escape adversity or the suffering that might come with it, we might have the chance to learn to react positively and constructively to the issues we encounter. This type of accountability mindset will help us get in the driver’s seat of our life.
“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”– Malcolm X
2. Tell another story
No matter how well we plan for our future, some cases are hard to imagine and prepare for, and unexpected setbacks will seem to sabotage our efforts. The power of extreme ownership can help us become resilient in our pursuit for our goals because success is not always a straightforward rote. When adversity strikes, we should not despair or perceive it as a problem, but rather use it as an opportunity to make it a meaningful experience and learn valuable lessons.
When adversity presents itself, it’s high time to draw wisdom and build resilience, by owning and shaping our story. The opportunities that come with it can foster creativity, growth, and self-confidence, all of which can help us write our new narratives.
3. Internal resources
When we own up to the fact that adversity is part of life, we also should be determined to do everything in our power to prepare for the events, by cultivating emotional strength, decision-making skills, self-awareness, discipline. This “task” of permanently improving ourselves will help us towards a more balanced life because we will be more equipped to face anything that might come.
4. External resources
The personal support system of the people around us can be valuable in times of adversity. Even if we consider ourselves to be mentally prepared for anything, everyone needs help occasionally and investing in trustworthy relationships and positive people may be the support to get us through. When times are hard, having people around to share experiences and learn from theirs will help us realize we are not alone. We have to look for inspiration in the fact that others have overcome similar adversity, find mentors for guidance or role models to look up to.
5. Purpose
When going through adversity, it often happens that we get more clarity and the chance to shift our attention to what is really important to us. If we take ownership over our real purpose in life, setbacks along the way can be easier to reframe in the greater scheme, because the lessons they bring might help us reach your goals, eventually.
Finding our life’s purpose can seem overwhelming, but it is important to consider that it is a life-long journey, based on searching deep for answers to what drives us and what makes us truly happy, but also what we are willing to endure to get there. With this list in mind, extreme ownership will keep us moving forward, pushing through challenges towards the ultimate purpose.
6. Believing in yourself
After going through the efforts of finding our true purpose, building our inner resources and outside conditions, the only thing that remains is to believe and trust in ourselves. We have to own our past achievements, however big or small, give ourselves credit and understand how much more we are capable of accomplishing. We also have to own our mistakes, because we learned from them and we are now better for that. Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader to boost your morale and embrace a positive attitude towards the future, transforming adversity into opportunity, rather than an obstacle.
“There is no education like adversity.”– Benjamin Disraeli
7. Focus
Extreme ownership also teaches about prioritisation and focusing on behaviours that ensure success, because these are the things that we can actually control. Analyse the situation and ask the crucial questions to clarify your position – “How did I get here?”, “What can I do to improve my past decisions”, “What opportunities does it bring?”. The answers to those will have to be aligned to our core values and priorities, in order to keep us on the path to self-improvement in the face of adversity.
It has been said that what does not kill us, makes us stronger but being proactive about adversity, preparing for it to the best of our abilities, will give us the upper hand in life’s challenges. We will become not only stronger, but the way we will approach adversity will no longer be defined by what happened to us but by our response to it.
The power to overcome adversity comes from responsibility, resilience and determination. When faced with challenges, it is important to remember that how we interpret and how we move on from them is a choice. If we accept we cannot escape adversity, welcome the situation with an open mind, learn our lessons and continue to believe in ourselves, we can become free from worry, fear and frustration.
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Success Advice
How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
According to CyberGhost (CG) bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
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