How to Overcome Any Challenge

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Jordan Dessauer

In my quest to get my third book done, The Twist; When Life Gives You Lemons… I thought I would give you a little peek into the subject of one of the chapters.  It’s about How to Overcome Any Challenge! I wanted to give you my thoughts in overcoming challenges that come your way everyday!  Here are some simple solutions that help me in this journey we call life:

Put Yourself in a Mental Lockbox: (I risk sounding a little out there,  but here goes!) I once dreamt about being shot into outer space into an asteroid field. I imagined myself in a “lockbox” of safety. I use that lockbox today as my mental safe room.  The lockbox is made with the toughest, strongest material made in the universe. Inside, I have all of my most valued possessions (family, pets, personal possessions, etc.) Inside is a world of comfort, peace, quiet.

I have rule, in the lockbox, it is impossible to be hurt by anything or anyone. Because of the treacherous world outside the lockbox, I sometimes stay in the comfort of my environment until I can calm down. Why? That’s where I devise my plans to overcome whatever challenges I am faced with. 

Separating yourself mentally from your challenges is like mentally going on a vacation. I have three such spots that I escape mentally to. One is the lockbox, the other is a particular golf course that I play, and finally I go to my favorite place, Key West, Florida. 

Task: Find three mental vacations for yourself. It can be a “mental lockbox” or certain places you like to go. While you are there, devise solutions for your particular issue or challenge. Start to practice by finding a quiet area and sending yourself to your spot, mentally. You don’t need to stay there long. You might even just need to go there for a minute or two. But be productive when you’re there. You see that not only does the stress start to melt away, but also it provides the resources you need to kick the challenge to the curb in order to move on to better things. 

Challenges Define Life: If you measure the highs and lows in life, proportionately, their distances are the same. Remember, life is like real estate, the stock market, and winning seasons of your favorite baseball team. It does not continually go up (Insert Joke…I’m a Cubs fan).  It’s the challenges or hurdles in life that define life. These are  what propels us to evolve into a stronger species. 

Take your challenges and turn them into a new resource of energy for life! Mark Twain once said: “Oh Death where is thy sting! It has none. But life has.” We have to understand having challenges, means we are alive! We often take life for grated and only try to recognize and celebrate the success, joys and good times. But its only when we confront the challenges and problems that are character is defined. 

Truth is, it’s not that life is so short, it’s that death is so long. Our time here is short, the sooner you can embrace challenge and understand how it defines your life, then you can really start to live! The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but what dies in us while we are living. 

Task: Pick three challenges in your life and give examples of how they have made your life more productive and enjoyable. 

You Are Not Alone: Everyone has challenges and problems. Some try to hide it more than others. Take solitude in the idea that we are all trying to solve problems daily. We fail all of the time. We all go through financial hardships, sickness and even death. In the end, this is why we become better. Check out this quote from one of my favorite athletes on the planet:  “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

You also should recognize the fact that you probably have people that will support you in getting through your challenges or issues. Look to your closest confidants. For me, it’s my wife Heather; she is the best at giving me alternative points of view. When I sign my The Alchemy of Wealth books for people, I write “change the way you view things and the things you view, change!” It is so true! (My thanks to Heather for helping me do that everyday!)

Task: Take a moment to recognize the people in your life that you should be using as a support mechanism for your issues, or the challenges you face. Who knows, they may depend on you to help them through their issues. That in it self may be the very thing that will help you through yours!

“Remember, wealth has nothing to do with money, success has everything to do with failure, and life is as simple as you want to make it!” – John Dessauer