Remember these 13 truths when going through hard times

8 min readFeb 6, 2020

Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. And no, that’s not me being overly pessimistic. As most of my readers have already come to realise, I’m a glass-half-full person. I try my hardest to always look at things in a positive light and avoid lingering on the negatives at all costs. But a massive part of learning how to live life to the fullest comes from accepting the reality that things won’t always go your way. In my experience it’s often the opposite — unless you’re somehow capable of handling every single task by yourself, you can hardly expect everything to go as planned. And that’s okay!

Learning how to deal with unfortunate situations and circumstances is just as (if not even more) important than knowing how to create positive ones. And that is precisely what I’ll be talking about in today’s article.

When the going gets tough, remember that:

1. You can do it!

Humans are amazing. I know I keep repeating this all the time, but it’s only because I really believe it. As long as you put your mind to it, you can get through virtually any situation. It’s all about remaining focused on the task at hand and not letting anything distract you.

2. You’ve come this far, after all

Chances are that your life hasn’t always been a walk in the park up until this point. You’ve overcome challenges in the past. You’ve had to struggle, to exert yourself and get in touch with your creativity, and all of this, just to get to where you are today. But you’ve managed. Everything that you’ve had to deal with, all the things that you have done have led you to this point. Are you going to give up now? Will you throw all of your efforts away?

Things might be different now. You might (and probably do) have to deal with new challenges. But you’ll pull through. Just like you did in the past. And if you have to make some changes moving forward, that’s fine.

3. Changes don’t have to be negative … unless you let them

To live is to learn and knowledge and change go hand in hand

Just like everything else in nature, we too, are constantly changing. Yes, our subconscious minds tend to dislike change. For most, change feels strange, scary and … different. And that’s normal. What that feeling of uncertainty represents, however, is your mind’s warning that you’ve not walked down this path yet. That you don’t actually know what to expect and that there might be risks waiting down the line. But here’s the trick to living effectively — you can’t let this feeling hold you back!

Depending on where and how you choose to live your life, you will encounter a certain number of situations that require you to change. There will be times when you’ll need to work longer hours, times when you’ll be strapped for money or times when you’ll have to sacrifice a great portion of your time to make something happen. All of these circumstances will bring about changes — some bigger and some smaller. Just remember to stay calm and keep an open mind.

4. Great things require time and effort

Rome wasn’t built overnight, and neither can your life. No matter how skilled, knowledgeable or experienced you are, achieving great goals will take its toll. Chances are that you’ll need to keep putting your time, effort and resources towards your goal for quite a while before you achieve it.

But remember — this hasn’t stopped humanity in the past, and it shouldn’t stop you!

5. Everything is transitory

“Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.”

I’ve touched upon the topic multiple times in my previous articles, but I believe that it deserves a mention here as well. We’ve got a limited amount of time to achieve our goals, after which, we pass the torch to those who come after us. Wealth, influence and power are all transitory. It is what we leave behind that matters. And sure, building something worthwhile can take a lot of time, effort and sacrifices. But it is the end goal that matters.

To go through life efficiently and positively, you need to remember that nothing lasts forever — neither the good nor the bad times.

Luckily, this concept also applies to our everyday lives — there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

6. It’s not just you

We all like to believe that we’re incredibly special. And, to a certain degree, we are — our mindsets and points of view are unique to how, where and when we’ve grown up, studied, worked and lived. But we’re also very similar, because, at the end of the day, we’re all human.

If you’re ever going through a rough time, remember that you’re probably not the first person to end up in this situation, and most certainly won’t be the last. As a matter of fact, I can guarantee that there were people who’ve had it much harder than you. If they’ve pulled through, why won’t you? You can even use this knowledge to your advantage, by looking up such people and seeing how they dealt with the situation.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

As I often point out in my business-related content, you can’t ever hope to do everything by yourself. It’s important to realise that we all excel in different things, and the most efficient way to spend your time is by focusing on the things that you’re good at. If you frequently bite off more than you can chew, you’re just going to put yourself in bad situations needlessly.

8. Mistakes happen

No matter how carefully you plan things, you will eventually mess up. Even the best and most knowledgeable of people make mistakes — it’s unavoidable. Realise this and don’t let your mistakes haunt you. Instead of lingering on the negative, however, you should try to learn from them. Think about what when wrong and why, so you don’t repeat your mistakes in the future.

9. Not everything needs to go according to plan

Sometimes, mistakes can even be a blessing in disguise. Mistakes and failures can sometimes expose us to perspectives and possibilities that we’ve never even considered before. Running late to a business meeting, as horrible and unprofessional as it sounds, could very well lead into an easy icebreaker or a budding friendship.

10. Ultimately, you are in control of your fate

Or rather, your mindset is. While undoubtedly important, wishing and planning can only get you so far. If you want to achieve your dreams, you need to act upon those intricately tailored plans of yours. You could have the most brilliant of ideas and the most amazing of plans, but if you just let them sit there, you won’t ever get any closer to making them a reality. Instead of wallowing in sadness about what you don’t have, focus your energy on achieving what you could have!

11. Focus on what you can control

Some things are simply outside of your control. You could spend an entire day wishing for a sunny Sunday afternoon for your picnic, but it won’t change anything. You could’ve spent your time on getting further ahead in your work, on learning new things or simply relaxing. If there isn’t anything you can do to change the outcome, don’t bother worrying about it!

12. There’s always a reward on the other end

Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. What got you into this situation in the first place. Ask yourself — Is it not a worthwhile goal? Is the price of dealing with this struggle not worth paying? And, if you somehow decide that this isn’t the case, I’d highly advise that you reconsider your goals. I even have the perfect article to suggest, just for this situation.

13. Consider the bigger picture

In closing, I’d like to bring up a very important, yet often overlooked point — the bigger picture. As I mentioned in Point #5, most of our actions and struggles won’t have an impact on the world at large. And, as is the fate of all insignificant things, they too will inevitably fade away from memory — both ours and of those around us.

Just because something bad is happening right now, or in the immediate future, doesn’t give you a reason to stress yourself out. I’m willing to bet that ten, or twenty years from now you’ll have all but forgotten most of your present worries. And the things that you do remember, you’ll laugh and joke about with your friends and family.

Of course, this doesn’t go to say that you should go through life without a care in the world. Quite the opposite, actually — I’d urge you to a focused, productive and effective life. But focus your attention only on the things that actually matter!

That’s all the time we’ve got for today! Dealing with difficult situations and finding your way through life is a broad topic, and there’s certainly a lot more to it than what I’ve written in these few short paragraphs. Still, I hope that this article was helpful in at least giving you a couple of points to look into.

And what about you — what is the most challenging situation that you’ve been in so far? How did you deal with it? Did you use any of these approaches, or do you have your special tricks to dealing with unfortunate circumstances? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below — I love hearing from you! Join me next time when we’ll return to our investment series.

Until next time — stay green and motivated!