Champions know that without adversity, there is no victory. Average-minded people don’t realize this paradoxical statement. Adversity to the average person initiates a tailspin of victim, why me thinking fueling self-pity and egotistical thinking of How Dare I Experience Misfortune.

The average-minded individual is immediately defeated by adversity and retreats into the life-sucking pit of self-pity. May I add that self-pity is one of the hardest mindsets to break!

Champions don’t do this. They don’t live in a fantasy world. They know adversity will strike, and when it does, it’s an opportunity for them to grow in mental toughness, strength, and fortitude.

To the world-class thinker, adversity is the land of learning and growth!

To see adversity as the birthing ground for greatness, one must not believe in operating in the path of the least resistance. Instead, one must operate from a higher level of consciousness.

One doesn’t become mentally tough in the land of rainbows and unicorns but in the land of stress and struggle.

This is why world-class thinkers intentionally push themselves mentally and physically while average-minded individuals are at the local watering hole or watching mindless TV.

For the average individual, adversity equates to pain and discomfort. The slightest hint of adversity has them running back to their comfort zones, grabbing their binky.

Adversity, to the champion, is an opportunity, a challenge, and a welcome event.

One of the biggest reasons for this perception is that world-class thinkers have trained themselves to believe that overcoming adversity increases their mental toughness. Therefore, they do not give adversity the meaning of a problem, associating it with fear and helplessness but with opportunity to grow and learn, as well as seeing it as temporary. The champion knows it will pass and when it does they will be better, smarter, and tough it from it. Strength is the result, not pity.

Since champions are hungry to become mentally tough, they willingly walk into the battleground with Goliath. They don’t back down. But do not misunderstand; they are not going to create adversity, but they will not run from it like the average-minded do.

If you’re ready to grow in mental toughness, identify the three most difficult adversities you have overcome, then identify the blessings or good things that resulted from each hardship. Lastly, once you have identified the positive outcomes of the adversity, intentionally contemplate them and continue training your mind to always see the glass half full.