"Navigating life's challenges"

Problems seem to multiply and grow if we ignore them. If you are stuck, perhaps you’ve been blaming an outside source or are facing a problem so big, it’s hard to figure out a solution. We each have a variety of issues we are dealing with simultaneously, but the trick is finding ways to navigate those problems with creative solutions. When all other factors fall away, no matter how much we procrastinate or how much we blame someone else, what we are left with is still ourselves. We need to understand that we are surviving our own lives. You might ask how would you define a survivor? A survivor is anyone who successfully navigates life's challenges.

The stories we hear the most about are those of shipwrecks or mountain climbers surviving against all odds. But within a moment's notice, you may be called on to survive without ever leaving your home. You may fall ill. You may face divorce or business catastrophe. You may lose a loved one. All of those call on our deepest survival skills. During those times the most important characteristic of the survivor is to have a solid inner core.

At heart, a survivor trusts himself and relies on himself. He is confident, but also humble. Survival is always a balancing act between opposing skills or forces. And when the crisis comes, he doesn't say, “How could this have happened to me?” A survivor doesn't complain or blame others. He says, “Okay, what's the right thing to do to get out of this? I know that there is always one more thing I can do, and I'm going to do whatever it takes. I'm going to do my best.” That's survivor thinking. On the other hand, a victim–which is what I call someone who doesn't survive–tends to blame others and look outside himself for rescue, even from everyday difficulties. A victim slips on the sidewalk and looks around for someone to sue. A survivor says, “That was careless of me, I should watch where I'm going.”

In order to complete some of your races, you might have to apply some of this thinking. If this is the start of your first season, you might ask if you have what it takes, if you can tell whether you’re a survivor. You can start by looking at how you've reacted to adversity in the past. Are you adaptable? Do you rebound from setbacks quickly with the attitude that you'll learn and grow through this experience? Or do you spend a lot of time blaming others for what happens to you? Do you look back on hardship with bitterness, or do you cherish it as part of what has built your character?

Ask yourself if you've struggled with adversity and prevailed with your sense of humor intact. Through the years I’ve come in contact with hundreds of people with fascinating stories. I heard from everyone who survived a life threatening illness to army rangers, from firefighters to engineers who build satellites, we all agreed that the principles and insights in life survival speaks to them at a deep level.

Becoming a survivor is lifelong endeavor. Each of us is unique but in surviving, we follow predictable patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought. Once you see those patterns, you can begin reflecting on how you live your own life, and if you can be honest with yourself, it becomes clear where you stand. It has been very gratifying to hear from you, people from all over the world, using the sport and lifestyle of triathlon to push them from what might be a victim's role to one of a survivor. So maybe the point of life is not that we are stuck, but to see in what ways we can become aware of our lives. And to be aware of the patterns that keep us stuck.

Dream big,