Adversity: something all of us wish to be rid of but something all of us need. Whether we like it or not, adversity is the pressure that pushes us to become bigger than ourselves; it’s the pressure that creates diamonds. Many of us (myself included) want that easy win, easy grade, just coast by, and live life. Although that mentality seems good, I learned that it prevents a person from fulfilling their true potential. If we truly want to grow, we shouldn’t be satisfied with our situation; we must continue to push ourselves every day. Constantly pushing ourselves for more shows us the heights we can reach one day with adversity being the force behind that.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “My life is hard enough as it is,” or, “Who is this dude to tell me to make my life harder?” And to that, I’d say, “Yes bro, life is hard as shit! BUT the way we look at the challenges we face can help differentiate what is debilitating and what can be solved.” Each of us has our own issues and sometimes what we define as adversity may be nothing to the person next to them. That is what makes each person so different; not one person has the same set of adversities as another. This is how we develop individuality to become our own person. Simply, changing your mindset and perspective on the challenges we face enables us to handle them, which ultimately leads to you becoming confident in your abilities.

So what exactly does it mean to “create adversity for yourself”? As I said, adversity is the pressure required to create diamonds. I created adversity for myself by doing this mental toughness challenge called “75 Hard”. If you are unfamiliar, the challenge requires the person to workout twice a day for 45 minutes each(one has to be outdoors), drink a gallon of water, follow a diet (no cheat meals or cheat days), read 10 pages of a non-fiction/entrepreneurial book, and take a progress picture every day for 75 days straight; and if you miss either one of those criteria, you fail and have to start over (you can find the instagram page I had to keep me on track here) This challenge was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I tested my limits every day and, as you can guess, it wasn’t smooth sailing. I would regularly have 18-hour days with 4 AM workouts and there were times where I wanted to quit, disappear, and give into being a failure. But I stuck with it. Over the 75 days, I found myself and created a clear vision of what my future can and will be. I learned so much about life, but those lessons didn’t come without hardship. Most of all, I proved to myself that I can handle any challenge as long as I stick with it.

With all that being said, I’m still working on my shortcomings. I now understand it takes actual work, effort, and persistence to do so. I have accepted the fact that we all go through tough times and as many times as we fail, there will be another opportunity to get back up and try again. Each one of our adversities creates the individual we know we can become. I truly believe if we consider each adversity we encounter as a learning experience, or something that prepares us for something better, the anxiety we feel from it will subside. Once we realize that we control how we react to the adversity we face, we can get past it and truly grasp the strength we have within. The diamond we can become is within us.The hardships and adversity we experience or create are the levels we need to go through to shine.

#3-Create adversity for yourself(Create Diamonds)

I AM A FAILURE

#2-Learn Something New Everyday(Burnout)