Reflecting on the Experiences of Others

When people have challenges in their lives, they often write a book about them. You can find thousands of biographies and autobiographies on Amazon that portray the struggles people went through to get where they are. These struggles can be great reflections to help our own lives.

Successful people give us inspiration by showing they were once just like everyone else. Abraham Lincoln’s family was too poor to send him to school. Yet, he became a lawyer. He was self-taught.

Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” His country was being bombarded on a daily basis during World War II. The Germans were later defeated, albeit with the help of allied troops. He had a big part in making that happen, however.

Many of us heard the story of JK Rowling (Harry Potter author) and how she was a homeless, single mother. She went on to write one of the most successful series in history. Harry Potter fans are grateful she persisted.

You can find dozens of other stories of people who dropped out of school, or had difficult childhoods, etc. These are what help them define their successes. They likely reflected on those bad times and used them to improve their situations. Their stories can help us avoid their situations or at least, help us get out of those situations if we are faced with similar fates.

This is a major reason why we were required to write book reports about successful people during our school years. By seeing what adversity other people faced, we can reflect on their situations and use that as the basis for making our lives better.

It’s still a good idea to read the profiles of people who struggled before us. It refreshes our views and shows that even when it seems like there are no choices, they pushed through their situations and made them work.

Reading profiles will have little value if you don’t take action, however. It’s important to learn about how people overcame their situations. But, each of them took action that led them to where they are (or were). Reflection is good only if it brings you results. If not, you are simply dreaming about a better life without taking the steps to make it a reality. Some people spend their entire lives dreaming about what could be, only to find it’s too late.

This doesn’t have to be the case. Be reflective, self-aware, and coachable...this is how you go from where you are to where you’d like to go.

Until next time...

Lisa

P.S. Do you have a book in you? Of course you do...we all have a story, but not everyone feels like they have a voice. I understand this because this was me. Growing up in a dysfunctional and homeless at fourteen years old, I found salvation through books. Now, I help others craft their own stories with my Writing, Publishing, and Marketing course. Participants not only learn how to write their stories, but they submit for the internationally bestselling anthology Page with Purpose. Registration is now open for our March cohort...join us here:Pages with Purpose: Writing, Publishing, and Marketing course