I’ve taken on plenty of big goals in my career and in my life.
And because I took risks like quitting my steady six figure job, and because I took risky bets, because I started companies, because I took on projects that I had no business taking on….
I’ve been rewarded handsomely in life and I’m thankful for it.
But not in a single one of those endeavors did things go perfectly.
In fact in almost all of them, I faced massive amounts of adversity, self doubt, and seemingly insurmountable challenges.
There was this one time when my business, ToutApp was in trouble. We had just ended a board meeting, and it was SO bad that each of my board members gave me a HUG and gave me my orders: Cut the company down to 15 people ( we were at 80 people) and figure it out from there. God Speed.
Sometimes, adversity strikes us in our personal lives. There was the time I was going through my divorce, and while I was doing 80 hour weeks to build the company, the lawyer sent me a nice note saying “We’re coming for you… for your money and the company”
And then there was even the time when I was going through selling ToutApp and I suffered a Gout attack while having shingles along the side of my body.
You see. Successful people don’t talk about that.
Those moments when you’re closer than ever on your goals and things are going wrong in other areas of your life
Or the messy middle when things are all falling apart and you’re not even sure if you’re going to make it to the promise land.
For all the success that I’ve had, I’ve had moments when it was all falling apart.
And in those moments, we’re tired. We’re feeling defeated. We just want to give up. And we just don’t know how we can keep going.
I’ve been there multiple times along the path to success.
So what happened?
How did I get passed those terrible horrifying moments?
In my life, during those moments, I was able to work through it. I was able to turn my company around and get to a great outcome. I was able to overcome my divorce. I was able rebuild my health.
Common personal development advice would tell you to double down. To gather up more energy. You would think given that this channel is called UNSTOPPABLE I’d tell you RUN TO THE FIRE and GO FIX IT!
But take it from someone that has been there, it’s hard to get to that mentality when the shit is hitting the fan.
And so in those moments when I was feeling overwhelmed, defeated, hopeless, I did the ONE THING that no one will tell you to do.
I shut it all down. Even if for a half day or a weekend. I shut it all down, I told everyone I’d get back to them in a day, and I went to the movies. Or I went to the beach. I chucked my phone, I put it all away, and I went away.
Not to fight off the feelings that I was feeling, but to FEEL those feelings, to let it flow THROUGH ME instead of me fighting back. Even if for a half day.
There’s a strange thing that happens when it comes to adversity. The more you try to fight it, the stronger it becomes. But the more you let it just flow through you and feel it, the weaker it becomes.
So in each and every one of those scenarios, I shut it all down, I took the time to collect my thoughts, to feel the overwhelmedness and recollect myself.
Sure enough, a day or two later, I always came back with more energy, a fresh perspective, and a new way to attack and solve the problem.
And it worked for me every time. No matter how bad the situation. Because I gave myself that time to recharge even if just a little bit.
So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, DON’T FIGHT IT.
Take the day off and shut it all down.
Find a friend that’ll help you escape the current moment and laugh again.
And tomorrow, come back with a vengeance.
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