Would you like to learn a skill set and technique so powerful
that you could learn to recycle every failure, disappointment,
setback and discouraging situation into a steppingstone for your
success? Would you like to go into every situation with
confidence knowing you will have the skills to convert it into
an experience with a positive benefit?
Imagine skilled and highly trained fighters going into a
difficult and scary situation. They don't go looking for it, but
when it comes, they are ready and prepared. They realize it will
probably be very painful and even scary, but with their training
and developed skill set, their odds are favorable.
You have an opportunity to use the same approach to adversities
and difficulties entering our lives. We don't go looking for
adversity; it finds us. We can’t necessarily avoid pain or
suffering, but if we use our training, we have a better chance
for survival and eventually find some benefit or lesson we can
take and claim a victory.
Change, difficulties and adversity will happen. Your only point
of control is the surfing skill set you develop to adapt and
make the best out of whatever comes your way. It is not really
what happens to you that matters as much as your response to
what happens. Your response determines your outcome. Think of
change and adversity as waves of the ocean, then consider your
response to those waves. Success is not necessarily in your
talents and abilities, but in the choices you make in
application to the waves. You can't change or fight the wave.
Your only real choice is to adapt to it.
Apply the S.U.R.F. Strategy™ to Make the Best of the Waves
The S.U.R.F. Strategy is a simple, quick strategy to adapt and
positively respond to whatever waves come your way. This keeps
your attitude as an ally working for you rather than an
adversary working against you. You cannot control the waves; you
can only control your response and develop the skills to adapt
to whatever comes your way.
The Four Steps of the S.U.R.F. Strategy
The S.U.R.F. strategy involves four steps:
* Survey the situation * Understand your options * Respond based
on your goals * Forward focus in action and attitude
1. Survey the Situation When you are tumbled by a wave
(adversity), you have to regain your bearing and figure out
exactly where you are. Leave emotion behind and survey your
situation. What new opportunities might be found or developed?
Now is the opportunity to create a new plan. It might be
tempting to get caught up in the heat of the moment and feel
like you are without options. Take a step back to gain
perspective. With an understanding of where you are and what
choices you have, you can make the most of the opportunities.
2. Understand Your Options After you know where you are, begin
to assess options for moving forward. Focus only on solutions.
After you survey your situation, it’s time to make way for
positive solutions and options. Ask questions like: “What can I
gain?” or “What contacts can I make?” Maintain a positive
outlook regardless of the situation — even if you do not
immediately see the opportunity. Stay focused on the outcome you
want and where you want to go.
Look optimistically for creative ways to use the situation for
good — don’t lament your misfortune. The opportunity may be
hidden. Learn to look for it. This is a creative success habit,
and it only comes with practice. Become an opportunity farmer.
Look for the hidden benefits behind each change and every
situation.
3. Respond Based on Your Goals Now assess the options in front
of you. Some may be better than others. Some may be more
complicated or difficult to see. Weigh the pros and cons of each
option. You might find your best option right now is to persist
in your current situation. You may find yourself riding a wave
bigger than you think you can handle. It may be a wild ride, but
at least it will be interesting.
Remember, you always have choices. The only thing you can
control is your attitude. Regardless of the wave, you have the
power to choose. Make sure your response is in line with your
goals.
4. Forward Focus in Action and Attitude You can’t surf
yesterday’s wave. The past is the past. Now it is time to think
creatively toward the future. Take positive action. Don’t let
things happen to you. Create the conditions and outcomes you
seek! Now that you are surfing the wave, maintain focus on where
you want to go and what you want to do. Maintain a vivid mental
image of your successful future finding ways to keep taking
action in that direction.
When Bad Surf Happens to Good Surfers
As you surf life’s waves, you will see good waves and bad ones.
You will have some awesome rides and some gnarly wipe outs. You
will meet fellow surfers who want to help you out and those who
would rather beat you down. There will be sunny days to enjoy
the beach. There will also be storms that take away your
enjoyment and opportunity as the sea becomes unstable and
unsuitable for your purposes. Injustice, rude people, hardships,
difficulties and even some bad things will happen in your life.
We cannot control those. The only thing we can control is our
attitude and the actions we choose to take in response.
Living is not about playing it safe. Test yourself. Learn the
full measure of your surfing ability. Do not hide from the
waves. You can learn from both your great rides and your wipe
outs. Opportunity does not come to the passive. Be active and
create your opportunities. Sometimes opportunities only come
through difficult situations. Adversity doesn’t build character,
it reveals it. How you choose to respond to adversity reveals
your true character. Your true character is uncovered in the
actions of your response and in the choices you make. Your
character is revealed in the promises you keep and in the
convictions you hold true. Ultimately, your character is a
mirror of the guiding principles in your life. What you do and
say reveal to the world who you are.
You Cannot Control the Weather
Neither you nor I can control the weather. We cannot control
what it will be today and we cannot affect in any way what it
will be tomorrow. It is what it is. The same weather will make
some people joyous and others miserable. When there is a snow
day that shuts down everything, kids rejoice, while parents who
need to miss work or scramble for child care do not. Rain is
great when the farmers need it for the crops and devastating
when the river peaks the levies. Hot sunny days are fantastic
for people to enjoy a picnic, yet miserable when you are in the
field working.
Weather in itself is neither good nor bad. It is up to us in our
decision of how we choose to weather our personal storms and
whether they leave us stronger and more resolute or weakened and
cowering until the next one. In the same way, adversities are
going to come your way, just like the waves of the ocean. All
you can really do about them is learn to surf . . . and convert
challenges, difficulties and hardships into opportunities.
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