We all go through hard times, and sometimes it can feel like there's no end in sight. You can become disheartened and tired, and you may start to lose faith in your own abilities.
It's easy to read too much into the situation, assuming that it's your own fault that you're going through adversity. On the contrary, the truth is that everyone encounters difficulties, and it's vital to face them head-on.
But what should you do when you encounter the worst adversity of your life? How do you maintain a positive, productive mindset, and what practical steps should you take?
In this guide, we'll walk you through how you can use the Law of Attraction to help with overcoming adversity.
Whether you're struggling with work, dealing with a conflicted or ending relationship, or you're going through something else entirely, change is possible. With time, effort, and good energy, you can build a happier and more successful life.
First, let's clarify what we're talking about here. What is adversity? Defined at the most general level, facing adversity means facing challenges where the odds seem to be stacked against you.
Sometimes, these challenges feel manageable. For example, passing a tough exam at school meant overcoming adversity of a kind, as does getting fit when you're overweight or out of condition.
That said, overcoming challenges can sometimes be incredibly difficult. Often, if you say you're facing adversity, what you really mean is that you're going through something truly horrible.
Common examples include acrimonious divorces, unemployment, and serious health problems.
Adversity can affect you in a wide range of ways, many of them positive. However, if you face lots of painful challenges (especially early in life), you can develop an attitude of hopelessness.
In other words, you can begin to think that life painful “happens” to you, and may even think that you're fated to be unhappy or victimized.
A key part of overcoming adversity is rejecting this victim mentality, and embracing the idea of yourself as a powerful, autonomous person.
The first step to changing your thinking here is understanding the ways in which adversity actually improves your capacity for success.
Adversity is a central part of life. When we struggle, we are forced to develop and grow. Think back to a difficult time in your life, and ask yourself how it changed you for the better.
It's likely that you'll notice some kind of development of resilience – in other words, you're stronger for having struggled. Consequently, there will be times when you push through and keep fighting rather than taking the easy way out.
And it's this persistence that will get you to all the things you value – love, success, financial abundance, and self-confidence.
Psychological research supports this picture of how adversity helps us. Data on resilience shows the people tend to be more persistent, more assertive, more curious, and more conscientious after facing major life challenges.
In addition, studies on successful people show that personality traits matter more than brute intellect or IQ. And the personality traits that matter most include the very ones that are developed through adversity.
At this point, you have a clearer idea of what we mean by adversity, and you've seen why it actually primes you for success.
However, the positive effects of adversity of course rest on actually overcoming that adversity. So, what should you do when you encounter a major challenge? Here are four steps to take.
Overcoming adversity can feel overwhelming and send you into a negative mental loop. When you feel this happening, take a deep breath and try to analyze the problem.
It can help to do this in writing. Here are some questions that will help clarify what's happening. Aim for answers of 1-2 sentences that get straight to the heart of the issue:
Sometimes, this process will show you that there is more than one problem. In which case, follow the next three steps for each problem, clearly separating them.
This will help your situation feel more manageable and ensures that you properly separate issues instead of treating them like a mixed-up, confusing bundle. And if you find that writing doesn't work for you, try to answer the above questions by talking with a sympathetic friend.
We often blow adversity way out of proportion, turning it into an unbeatable monster in our heads. The smartest thing you can do to deal with this tendency is to deliberately contemplate the worst possible outcome.
Ask yourself “What’s the worst possible thing that could happen in this situation?”. For example, if you're stressed out about an unlikely promotion, the worst outcome is that you don't get the promotion. And that doesn’t mean you’ll never be promoted, right?
The goal of this step is to make overcoming adversity manageable. If you can convince yourself that you can deal with the worst possible outcome, your emotions will begin to de-escalate.
This is an especially useful trick if you're prone to anxiety, as it helps you to reconnect with reality.
If the worst possible outcome still seems very daunting, try to think of a time in the past where you survived a similar outcome. This is proof that you will survive again.
Now that you've imagined the worst possible outcome, generate an action plan. What will you do to move on? How will you help yourself feel better?
To return to the previous example, if you don't get the promotion then you can use the feedback from that rejection and use it to go for promotion another time (or apply for a new job!).
Meanwhile, you can plan to take care of yourself – take a day trip, schedule in some extra yoga, or read a book to escape. In other words, come up with a practical recovery plan and a plan for emotional management.
However, while it's vital to plan for the worst, the Law of Attraction teaches us that we should also expect the best. So, with your action plan in place, commit your energy to believe in the outcome you really want.
Creative visualization is a great tool here – spend 10-15 minutes a day building up a mental image of your success.
Finally, remember that you do have some power over the outcome here. You're not at the mercy of fate – to a large extent, life is what you make it.
With this in mind, look at how you can minimize the negative consequences of the adversity you're facing.
To use a relationship example, suppose you're mired in conflict with your partner and a breakup is the worst outcome you can envision. What can you do, right now, to make that outcome less likely?
What's the very first step you can take? It might be being more honest with your partner, or scheduling a session with a couple's therapist.
All this said, make sure you don't tip into blaming yourself if things don't go your way. Often, difficult outcomes just mean that the universe has something important to teach us before we get to the place of deepest fulfillment.
We often assume that successful people don't struggle. We imagine that they get everything right the first time and live in bliss. However, successful people are not without life's problems.
They also have to face adversity – and what this tells you is that you too can be successful, if you tackle adversity with determination and positivity.
All of the advice is predicated on the assumption that you're genuinely facing adversity. However, make sure you're not jumping to conclusions.
Adversity can be a self-fulfilling prophecy – sometimes, we assume something bad is happening, and then our assumptions cause it to happen. For example, suppose you think that your partner is cheating on you and that they're going to leave you.
Related article: Law Of Assumption Vs Law Of Attraction
It's important to check this out and make sure there aren't other reasons for the apparently suspicious behavior. If you respond to your worry by, say, going through your partner's phone, you may well be the reason that the relationship ends.
The lesson here is just that adversity is often based on misunderstandings and incorrect information. If you take the extra time you take to make sense of a situation and check the facts, you may well end up dealing with a far less dramatic problem than you first thought.
Once you have your facts straight and understand what's happening, it pays to react quickly. Use the steps above to come up with a decisive plan of action, and put it into practice immediately.
This helps you to stay empowered and assists you in making the most of your options before those options have a chance to diminish.
Finally, remember that radiating positivity attracts more goodness into your life. If you can manage to maintain a positive mindset and a compassionate attitude during even your toughest moments, you can help yourself manifest a joyful future.
Consider that you don't gain anything by acting out of anger or by wallowing in misery. However, you do stand to gain a lot by trusting the universe and reacting with grace and gratitude.
This not only helps you to manifest anything – it also helps you feel better in the moment.
Positivity is a powerful weapon to start overcoming adversity, helping you to manifest positive situations even in the toughest periods of your life.
Manifesting success gets easier the more you get used to using the Law of Attraction techniques – eventually, they become second nature.
As well as the visualization tool we described above, affirmations can help you to stay positive. For example, try saying “I have the strength to make the best out of every day” every day.
The positive statements and images associated with affirmations and visualization help to keep you vibrating on a high frequency, attracting more positivity into your life.
We have a wide range of resources available to help you make the most of the Law of Attraction. We want to give you the tools to live the life you've always wanted.
Once you have these tools, adversity is not a disaster – it's just a bump in the road.
