Gratitude Even in the Hard Things

The most difficult things and people we encounter are the ones we need to be most thankful for. 

This was a profound statement that rang true in my conversation with friend, Isaiah Hankel. 

Isaiah has a Ph.D. in Anatomy & Cell Biology and is an internationally recognized Fortune 500 consultant. He is an expert in the biotechnology industry and specializes in helping people transition into cutting-edge career tracks.

During our time together, he confirmed that if you feel stuck somewhere in your life right now, you should make a change. Don’t sit still and wait for the world to tell you what to do. Start a new project. Build your own business. Take action. Experimentation can be your best teacher. If the pain is acute enough, it’s the impetus for saying, “I’m going to change this for myself and others around me.”

After experiencing friction and hardship in his own life, he had some amazing words of insight and encouragement. 

I was amazed to hear him mention that everyone needs certainty more than variety– even if it eventually leads to more uncertainty. Such a profound insight into human psychology. 

He went on to assure me and every one of our listeners that we get to define success for ourselves. Your achievements, experiences, and accomplishments are a direct result of your efforts which may be completely different from friends and colleagues. Take two business leaders for example. The first has dreams of building and scaling, the other remaining a successful solopreneur. Each comes with a unique set of achievements that are vastly different from the other. The executive leading a team often hits higher revenue goals (a success) than the go-it-alone entrepreneur who gets to determine his own pace, schedule, and goals (indeed, another success). 

When we’re grateful for the motivation that friction brings, which is a core theme of every one of our virtual experiences, we can use those experiences to improve and get better. And here’s the fulcrum of it all– we need to celebrate each other’s successes (even our opponents) as if they were our own.

Hardships can serve as the fuel, passion, and motivation to pursue even greater things. 

Instead of freezing, we would all do well to capitalize on uncertainty. 

In fact, his challenge to all of us is that what made you successful then may be totally out of context for what will make you successful both now and in the future. 

When we live open-handed, and accept that bad things do happen to us, we’re finally positioned to rise above it all and build something better.