Tough Time Never Lasts But Tough People Do
Robert Schuller, the American author and motivational speaker has beautifully crafted this book with motivation to come out of tough times and situations as a winner.
Table of Contents
Tough time comes in everyone’s life and this decides whether we become history or we will create history.
So let’s understand through this book what we should do so that we can come out of this tough time soon and how can we improve ourselves and bounce back in life and reinvent ourselves.
Learning of this book
Some listed learnings of this book are:
Accept the tough time
Everyone faces tough times so the earlier you accept these times whether it is financial problems, health problems, family problems, or any other problem the better it is.
Otherwise, what happens is that the mind will never accept the situation and channel all energy in that direction.
The sooner you accept the sooner you will search the option and ways to come out of them.
You should always know that you can choose from the problem generated by tough times.
The 3 problems are events, outcomes, and response.
Events mean the situation which has already happened.
Outcomes mean the result which will come in the future and the response means the reaction.
We can’t control the event or the outcome. The only thing which is in our control is the response.
Emotions create the reaction whereas controlled emotions create the response.
It depends that in this condition you are controlled by emotions or you govern the emotions.
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 that you will realize that he or she has faced problems before growing and reaching this point.
Every person gets this opportunity 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 is turned into a butterfly.
The larvae have to break the shell and comes out with beautiful strong wings to become butterfly but if the process is broken in between like if you help the larva in breaking the shell then the wings of the larva will never be strong enough to fly and sometimes it can die.
This is the process of nature to provide toughness in this way.
Simply, by saying this author wants us to understand that facing problems and difficulties makes us strong.
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 when that time will come when you will face no problem is a waste of energy and time.
This will never happen.
Every unemployed thinks that no work no job is the problem and this problem will be solved when he/she gets a job but the author asks does this means those who have a job have no problems in life.
Nobody is there who doesn’t have problems but yes some are chosen to face big problems and we should not question as nobody and nothing is more intelligent than this creation.
Creation knows the potential of everyone and thus one has to face it. And, 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 tells that he has to make a big cathedral and for that, he needed 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 which he called the power of ten in which he will write 10 solutions on paper from where he can get the money, and the donation and afterward will take the action.
The author says that – “I played the possibility thinking game”, what he does is on number one he wrote to search for one person to get 1 million dollars, and at number 2 he wrote to search 2 people for ½ million dollars.
At number three he wrote 4 people to get 2.5 million dollars, then 20 people for 50lakh dollars than 200 people who can give 5 thousand dollars, and at last 100 people who will donate 1000 dollars. So in this possibilities work.
Otherwise, most people were stuck with the thought why this happens to me only?
The simple answer is this happens to you because you are chosen for good, you are chosen to become something.
So author guides us to play this possibility game whenever we are facing 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 income.
Write down the 10 possibilities of what you can do to earn more and start working on them.
In this way, the problems run away from your mind and 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 that we are angels and nothing bad can ever happen to us.
And when these bad times come we start thinking about why this bad 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 a very cold place the animals like dogs have long furs why?
Because it protects them from cold.
This fine-grained attention is paid 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 lifespan
Every problem has a lifespan.
Look at your life. Look at your past.
You must have faced some problems and you would have come out of that.
You have faced it.
Now that those problems are ended.
It means every problem has a lifespan and the current problem will also end the same way.
Talk with yourself in tough times.
Say that this time will not last forever.
This 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 or work or business, finance anything.
Learn from others’ life histories.
There is no dead end and if you are alive then you can start anytime regardless of age.
Every problem holds positive possibilities
Every problem is surrounded by possibilities and the solutions are hidden in these possibilities.
The author says that problem of one is a possibility for someone.
The author gives the example that rat is a problem but the company that makes the medicine for their stoppage, the mats, and the cages give employment to many.
So the problem of rats is an opportunity for many.
If we get sick then 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 that this is a very small thing, 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 small that they neglect it while others think that they are very big.
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% thinks are imaginary.
So do not exaggerate otherwise you are creating the frequencies for that.
This 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 that is why 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 the ways to come out of tough times.
Illuminate by IPDE
The author says to illuminate by, I-identifying who else is facing this problem.
You are not alone who has faced this problem and many others are also facing it, P– predict how can you 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 and lastly E-execute means how many possibilities you can execute to solve this problem.
This will let you come out of tough times.