Success Habits For Dummies

Chapter 6

Dealing with Adversity and Setbacks

IN THIS CHAPTER

Embracing what you can learn from failure

Staying persistent in tough times

Developing a positive attitude

In order for us to win in life, we must push through the adversity we face. Without facing it, we are poorly prepared for winning. The truth is, most of us don’t welcome adversity like a long-lost friend. We don’t embrace with passion the pain and setbacks that occur. Without a healthy relationship and desire for adversity to happen, we are not prepared to seize opportunity when it presents itself in the present or future. No one has ever achieved a high level of success without overcoming setbacks, failures, and adversity.

Alfred Russell Wallace was a famous botanist of the late 1800s. One day, Dr. Wallace was observing an Emperor butterfly struggling through the life-and-death adversity of escaping its cocoon. He wondered if he assisted the butterfly in its exit, what effect that would have on the butterfly. With a knife, Dr. Wallace made an incision the length of the cocoon that allowed the butterfly to exit the cocoon with ease. The butterfly emerged, spread its wings, and died. The butterfly did not have to ...