Tough Time Never Lasts But Tough People Do

Robert Schuller, the American author and motivational speaker, has beautifully crafted – Tough time never lasts but tough people do – with motivation to come out of tough times and situations as a winner.

Tough time comes in everyone’s life, and it decides whether we become history or we will create history.

So let’s understand through this book what we should do to uncover this tough time soon? How can we improve ourselves? Bounce back in life and reinvent ourselves.

Learning from this book

Some listed learnings of this book are:

Accept the tough time

Everyone faces tough times, so the earlier you accept, the better it is, whether financial problems, health, family, or any other problem.

Otherwise, the mind will never accept the situation and channel all energy in that direction.

• The sooner you accept, the sooner you will search strategies to come out of them.

You should always know that you can choose from the problems generated by tough times.

• The three problems are events, outcomes, and response.

Events mean the situation that has already happened.
Outcomes mean the result which will come in the future, and the response is the reaction.
We can’t control the event or the outcome. The only thing that is in our control is the response.

• Emotions create the reaction, whereas controlled emotions create the response.

It depends in this condition are you controlled by emotions? or you govern the feelings?

So the choice is yours.

You can convert your reaction into a response.

• The author says that every problem brings a challenge with it.

If you observe any successful people near you, you will realize that he must have faced problems before growing and reaching this point.

Every person gets this opportuniyt, and they can change themselves by facing problems.

Face the problem with a different perspective

You must have heard about the process of metamorphosis in which a larva changes into a butterfly.

The larvae have to break the shell and come out with a beautiful strong wings to become butterflies. However, if the process hampers in between, like if you help the larva breaking the shell, then the wings of the larva will never be strong enough to fly, and sometimes it can die.

It is the process of nature to provide toughness in this way.

• The author wants us to understand that facing problems and difficulties strengthen us.

Problems are just the other word for opportunities. It helps to grow.

Every living being has problems.

Those who are dead have no problems.

So, to think the time will come when you will face no problem is a waste of energy and time.

It will never happen.

Every unemployed thinks that no work and being jobless is the only difficulty, and this problem is solved with a job. However, the author asks- Does this mean those carrying a job have no problems in life?

Nobody is there who doesn’t have problems, but some were chosen to face immense obstacles, and we should not question. Nobody and nothing is more intelligent than this creation.

• Creator knows the potential of everyone, and thus, one has to face it. Different perspective to face problems helps to cope with tough times.

Out-of-the-box thinking

• Think of solutions and ways to come out of the problem.

Here, the author says he wants to make a big cathedral, and needs 1 million dollars.

Practically, this is not possible as it is a huge requirement.

Still, the author says he decided to pen down the opportunities that he called the power of ten in which he will write ten solutions on paper from where he can get the money and the donation and afterward will take the action.

The author says – “I played the possibility thinking game”. Number one, he wrote to search for one person to get 1 million dollars. Number two, he wrote to search two people for ½ million dollars.

At number three, he wrote four people to get 2.5 million dollars, then 20 people for 50 lakh dollars, then 200 people who can give 5 thousand dollars. Lastly, 100 people who will donate 1000 dollars. So in this possibilities work.

Otherwise, most people were stuck with the thought why did this happen to me only?

The simple answer is this happens to you because you are chosen for good. You are selected to become something.

• So, the author guides us to play this possibility game whenever we face a tough time.

Suppose your income is less and you are facing a tough time, then instead of blaming the situation or time, write down the ways by which you can increase your earnings.

• Write down the ten possibilities of what you can do to earn more and start working on them.

In this way, the problems run away from your mind. You will shift your attention to the possibilities.

Never stop believing

The author says in tough times, faith shakes, and this is natural.

We all think we are angels and nothing unpleasant can ever happen to us.

And when these bad times come, we start thinking about why this is happening.

We have never done anything wrong.

But do not forget that nothing is more intelligent than this nature, the creation.

If you must have observed that in numbing places, animals like dogs have long furs, why?

Because, it protects them from the cold.

It is a fine-grained attention, a reward by nature.

• So, the biggest power in tough times is the belief, the faith that there is nothing impossible for creation.

This does not mean that any miracle will happen and we will come out of bad times instead your mind will focus on possibilities and ways to come out of this situation with belief in creation that there is something good hiding in this situation.

• Creation is with me and something good will happen.

Look at your problems from the correct perspective

Roberts Schuller says that you should change the perspective of looking at the problems.

• Think if this is a bad time, and thank god that nothing worse than this has happened.

• Think what worst you are saved from. What is worse than the situation has not happened to you?

• Thank god that you are alive and you can think, as there is a solution to every problem.

Every problem has a limited lifepan

Every problem has a lifespan. Look at your life. Look at your past. You must have faced some problems and would have come out of that.

You have faced it. Now, those problems have ended.

It means every problem has a lifespan. The current issue will also end the same way.

• Talk with yourself in tough times.

Say that this time will not last forever.

It will end. No problem is permanent.

• Look at history for inspiration. You will never find yourself alone.

Many people have faced the same problem whether it’s in relation, work or business, finance, or anything else.

Learn from others’ life histories.

• There is no dead end. If you are alive, you can start anytime, regardless of age.

Every problem holds positive possibilities

• Every problem surround itself with possibility. The solutions hide in these possibilities.

The author says that the problem of one is a possibility for someone.

The author gives the example that rats are a problem, but the company that makes the medicine for their stoppage, the mats, and the cages employ many.

So the problem of rats is an opportunity for many.

If we get sick, this is a problem for us, but this is an opportunity for doctors.

• The problem is like a coin that has two sides.

One is the problem itself, and the other is the opportunity. But the point is how we will flip this coin and search for possibilities for ourselves.

Don’t underestimate, don’t ignore the problems

• Before coming, every problem gives the signal.

Do not underestimate it.

Do not think this is a tiny thing to neglect, and will look at it afterward.

• If you ignore these signs, then this is not the fault of this creation.

It has warned you, and you have neglected it.

Never exaggerate

Some people think the problem is so little they neglect it, while others believe it is gigantic.

Like, if the problem is 1% and you make it 100% in your mind, then it is exaggerating.

What we think in our mind is an exaggeration. Only 3% of that happens in reality. 97% of things are imaginary.

• So do not exaggerate. Otherwise, you are creating the frequencies for that.

• It will never let you come out of your tough time.

Don’t wait

• Do not think that someone will come and help with your problem.

It is just a waste of time and energy. You may miss the opportunity if you wait for others.

• You have the potential within yourself, so you are chosen for that challenge.

Never aggravate

• Never let negative emotions dominate you.

Some people enjoy self-pity.

They develop the habit of self-pity. Because misery attracts attention, and this captures the brain.

When we fall ill, we tell everyone.

Why? Because it attracts attention, and this is what the human brain wants to grab attention for pleasure.

• Do not self-pity, but think of methods to emerge from tough times.

Illuminate by IPDE

The author says to illuminate by :

• I – Identifying who else is facing this problem.  You are not alone in facing this problem. Many others are also facing it.

• P– predict how you can solve this problem instead of self-pity and why this problem occurs to me.

• D-decide how many options you have to solve this problem.  Lastly, 

• E-execute means how many possibilities you can execute to solve this problem.

It will let you come out of tough times. 

Hope the learnings from the book “Tough time never lasts but tough people do”, motivates you in crafting your life!