“He who has a why can endure any how.” – Frederick Nietzsche”
Every single endeavor, project, dream or goal will hit a crisis or two at some point in its implementation. No matter how perfectly you execute an idea or follow through with a plan, no matter how airtight your script is, you will face challenges and setbacks.
Murphy’s law famously states that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. While seemingly pessimistic, Murphy’s law is also a powerful tool for exploring and mitigating scenarios that could go wrong in the implementation of your plan or project. In stoicism, this is called premeditatio malorum – the premeditation of the troubles that might lie ahead, which helps us prepare for and address those troubles when they do eventually show up.
“What is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. This is a reason for ensuring that nothing ever takes us by surprise. We should project our thoughts ahead of us at every turn and have in mind every possible eventuality instead of only the usual course of events.
— Seneca
But it’s not always possible to remain stoic, resilient and unwavering in the face of crisis. Sometimes – if not many times – situations overwhelm us and we become helpless, hopeless and disillusioned by the challenges we face. When this level of despair hits us, quitting can look like the only viable solution, especially if we believe we’ve tried everything to resolve the situation at hand.
But these crisis points are often the exact moments that turn into inflection points – moments of distress in which we come up with brilliant solutions that we would never have thought of before – and inflection points are powerful tool for accelerating growth.
Often, the one thing that can help us get back on track is to remember why we started. This raison d’etre is the lynchpin or foundation for our purpose; it is our why.
Every single endeavor or journey you’ve started had a singular moment when you discovered or understood why you wanted to start. And that purpose should always be your North Star when things get tough.
When you’re about to quit, remember why you started. – Unknown.
When you remember why you started, you get perspective, clarity and renewed focus, because your resolve shifts away from the crisis you’re facing and your mind goes into problem-solving mode, driven by the desire to complete the work you started.
From Crisis to Opportunity
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles R Swindoll
When faced with difficult challenges, we are hardwired to follow one of three instincts: fright, flight or fight, each of which creates drastically different outcomes for our long-term goals.
- The Fright Instinct leads to inaction both in the present moment and for future endeavors. We doubt and question our ability and begin to feel like impostors or charlatans.
- The Flight Instinct leads to abandonment or quitting completely. Quite simply, we assume that this crisis is beyond us and that there’s nothing we can do to resolve it.
- And finally, the Fight Instinct helps us push back, examine and defend our crisis position, exploring ways in which we can resolve and move past the problem infront of us.
Remember, though, that sometimes fight can be the last step after both fright and flight. Sometimes we find ourselves mustering the resolve – much later – to return to the crisis. There is no shame in taking a step back to process, analyze and understand the situation. And above all, there is prudence in acknowledging that the situation is beyond you at that particular moment in time.
But how do we turn crisis into opportunity? How can we nurture the Fight Instinct to always be front and center in moments of crisis?
The first thing is to establish whether the source of the crisis is within our control or not. The second is to frame how we react to this presence or absence of control. And the third is to constantly train our minds to avoid instinctive reactions, but act decisively (and proactively), no matter the circumstances. As Victor Frankl so brilliantly put it, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
By creating and reframing this perspective, we can then decide whether we can navigate through the obstacle in our way – by addressing the reasons why it happened in the first place – or around the obstacle – by finding solutions that allow us to recalibrate and change strategy until we’re able to get back on track after moving past the obstacle.
No matter which approach we take, each of these decisions create powerful learning experiences that can, in turn, prepare us better for future challenges. Essentially, by choosing to constantly face our crises and decisively resolving them, we are training and building our strategy, decision-making and resilience muscles, which in turn leads to better leadership and improved personal growth.
Read This: Turning Obstacles in Opportunities
1. Turning crisis into opportunity: Get perspective and lead together
While this article from Chief Learning Officer, primarily addresses crisis leadership for organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, it also offers very strong steps leaders can follow to navigate from crisis to opportunity.
2. Turning Crisis Into Opportunity: 5 Ways to Deal With Hardship
Entrepreneurs face obstacles from the moment they wake up in the morning, whether they’re trying to satisfy investors, struggling to meet payroll, dealing with unexpected complications or delivering a new product to market.
Of course, not everyone is cut out for these rough seas. But some individuals stand out as being particularly well-suited for dealing with what investor and advisor Ben Horowitz calls the “hard things.”
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