This is part 12 in the series: RESILIENCE
Successful people experience adversity
My profession rarely talks about Post Traumatic Growth. If we look at all POW’s who have been in prison or war camps, 61%, the majority of them, almost two-thirds say they experienced Post Traumatic Growth. Just like the young men who go through SERE training, they say,
“No, I wouldn’t want to do it again, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world because it made me the person that I am today.
I wouldn’t have become this…
I wouldn’t have become that…
…had I not gone though that adversity.”
I grew because of it.
Most of us will never say, “Oh, sign me up. Throw me in a prisoner of war camp. Torture me. Break my knees. Yes, I gotta get me some of that.” None of us want to sign up for it.
These men, 61%, say, “I grew because of it. Would I like to go through it again? No. Would I trade it for the man it has made me into? No. I’m glad I went through the suffering.”
None of it seems pleasant at the time. Nobody wants it when it’s happening, but afterwards, 61% say, “I’m a better person because of it.”
You can learn from this to prepare for greater adversity and greater success in the future.
None of us want to volunteer for adversity, but I guarantee adversity will come and find you. If you are in the middle of adversity, when it has found you and you are saying to yourself, “Man I wish it would stop.” Of course you wish it would stop. We all wish it would stop. The important lesson here is that you can learn from this to prepare for greater adversity and greater success in the future. Successful people have all experienced adversity. They experienced Post Traumatic Growth.
