"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. . . . You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. "
Walt(er) Elias Disney (1901-66)
American animator, showman, film producer

Throughout our lives we are often faced with Obstacles or Adversity. All too often however, we let our obstacles become our adversity or our adversity become our obstacles.

If you look back on your life, you may see this as well.

What I've found is a simple two word phrase for a person who is ready to conquer both.

That phrase is "R.E.A.L. S.M.A.R.T." It's an acronym that tells us the steps we need to take in order to achieve our objective of conquering our obstacle or adversity.

Here's why a person who is ready to conquer their adversity is R.E.A.L. S.M.A.R.T.

A "R.E.A.L." person is a person who: Realizes Everything's Always Learned

This simply means taking the time to think, understand and most of all learn what and where our obstacles are. The next part of the process is learning what we need to know in order to overcome our obstacle or adverstiy.

When you Realize Everything's Always Learned, you will also realize that this is a circular process, and one that must be repeated for each obstacle or adversity we face in our lives.

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." Anthony J. D'Angelo

Now although the S.M.A.R.T. principle is one that is used in business, I firmly believe that many of the principles of business can and must me applied in our lives.

So here it is:

SMART = Specific + Measurable + Achievable + Realistic + Timely

Specific: A goal needs to be exact and clearly stated. Vague and general terms are not goals. Your brain needs to focus on a specific target.

Measurable: How do you know when the goal is completed? When stating your goal you should state how you are going to measure when it is complete. If you don't know the measurement then you will never know that you have achieved it.

Achievable: Your goal must be attainable. If you have not learned what you need to know in order to attain your goal, then you must either learn it and then apply or find someone to assist you that already knows what you don't. Think about past achievements or failures in your life and apply some of the lessons that you learned.

Realistic: Being realistic is a bit tricky. What may be realistic for you may not be realistic for others. You can see this truth throughout your life. Keep your goal within boundaries that you set and upgrade how realistic it is as you get closer or achieve more.

Timely: Keep a specific time of day for working towards your goal. In addition to that, keep a timeline of when you intend on completing each portion of your goal. Keep track of each item completed and when. Tracking is an essential element in achievement.

This was taken from another article I wrote called "Why Taking Action Is Not The Answer". Where ever the word "goal" is mentioned, you will realize that conquering your obstacle or adversity is now your goal.

The REAL SMART principle should be applied any time an obstacle or adversity presents itself in our lives or businesses. There is more to be learned from them than any other time in our lives. With that said, I leave you this...

"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind." Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, scientist