Reversing
Adversity
Dear
Associate,
Are
you familiar with that old adage: What goes up -- must
come down? It has to be true because no one I've known,
and probably no one you've known, has ever been up all of
their earthly days. And if someone tells you he's never been
down, he's probably fibbing.
Wall
Street goes through bull and bear cycles. Companies report
their profits and losses. Property values go up and down.
And we carbon units are caught right in the middle.
In
that case, when we find ourselves in a down cycle, we have
two major choices...
The
first choice is to stay in that negative space and hope someone
or some thing will pull us out. Some people call this stalling.
Some call it wishing. I call it procrastinating.
The
second choice is to power out of adversity by taking positive
action. You can actually put adversity in its place by moving
away from it. Read that last sentence again. It's a doozy.
You might not ever erase the problem from your memory bank
or even fix it completely, but you can fight through the negativity
by working out the solutions.
Case
in point: My car needed a few repairs covered under extended
warranty. The dealership said, "We'll fix it." The
mechanic finds more damage totaling more than the insurance
company wants to pay. Now we have a problem.
A
simple repair job has turned into an expensive nightmare.
The insurance company, so full of vim and vigor when they
received my check for their policy, is now whining about their
responsibility to their client. Maybe they didn't get their
government bailout.
What
to do next...
1)
Put adversity in its place. See it for what it really
is — an opportunity to grow. A chance to stretch your
mind to see if you can become better.
For
me that car problem manifested into multiple problems. Which
forced me to juggle things around with my schedule. Which
eventually made me a better communicator.
I
focused on being polite and professional when speaking to
all parties involved. You never want them to see you lose
your cool. You'll never win them that way.
2)
Ask an expert. Get advice from someone you trust who's
been there, done that. They may offer you ideas or options
you'd never have thought of. They may even warn you you're
heading in the wrong direction.
Talk
with friends. Do the research. Ask questions. Do the math.
Look at new options. Get a reality check.
I
began shopping online for a classic muscle car similar to
the ones I used to own. They retain their value and are less
expensive to work on. I told a trusted friend I was interested
in one car. He shot me down to Earth saying, "That's
nice for a weekend car, but impractical as a daily driver."
Not what I wanted to hear. After thinking it over, he made
a lot of sense.
3)
Power through with positive action. Possibly the worst
thing to do is sit around. Because zero action equals zero
results. Avoid stagnating.
In
my situation the insurance company gave me two options. Neither
was to my liking. I was not in the power position so I had
to select one option, cut my losses and get on with life.
Arguing,
litigation threats, or yelling at the service manager will
make matters worse. Some of these steps can be pursued later.
My main goal was to get my car back on terra firma. You have
to do what it takes that fits with who you are. Take a look
at your big picture, decide what's best and move on. Then
send in your damage control team.
Adversity
is something no one wants to go through, but no one can escape.
One important concept to remember is: we make choices that
either shows our positivity or negativity. Choosing well will
quickly help you reverse adversity.
Warm
regards,
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