“Ouches!”

Here’s another extraordinary post from an extraordinary man… Mr. Shawn Anderson.

I call setbacks “Ouches!”

As kids, we all fell and experienced our share of individual ouches. Scraped knees…a little league strike-out…a forgotten valentine from the girl you liked…a bad grade on a test.

Ouch.

Ouch.

Ouch.

Ouch.

As kids we learned to deal with bruised egos and skinned shins. Ouches happened all the time and were a part of learning to “walk” in life. We learned to naturally follow the four main principles in the “Kid’s Guide to Survival and Success” and were able to move forward consistently to the next opportunity.

1.       Fall down.
2.       Cry.
3.       Tell someone about the hurt.
4.       Run out and play again.

That was it. That was our four-part plan to success. Simple, huh?

As adults, we get plenty of ouches, too.

We lose jobs, experience failing businesses, deal with relationship break-ups, struggle through money issues…there is an endless list of mental, physical and emotional ouches that sting us regularly.

Very much like when we were kids.

But the problem with ouches now…as adults…is that we seem to have forgotten all the steps that got us through the falls in our early years. Sure, we have the “fall down” thing mastered (often a little too well for our own liking). Most of us have even developed professional status in “crying” (it’s called “whining” as an adult). And when it comes to “telling someone about the hurt,” it seems we have become quite adept at sharing with anybody who will listen.

However, it seems, that we have totally forgotten step four in the success guide:

Run out and play again.

The key to eventually succeeding…as a kid or as an adult… is not in lying on the ground and rubbing our ouches for too long. If we stay down on the ground whining, opportunities can quickly come and go. The next opportunity…the next chance…the next moment…none of them wait for those whose bottoms are stuck on the ground in permanent whining position.

Sure, life is not fair at times. So? Get over your ouches…or forever risk getting stuck on “nowhere.”

Have you ever caught yourself saying: “I could have done that!”?

Uh, huh. You could have…no doubt…if you had made the choice to get up more quickly from your last fall!

Do you have an “OUCH!” that you have experienced recently that is still holding you back? Well, why not choose to quit whining about it. You can either do something positive to heal the ouch, or you can forget about it altogether.

Those are really your only two choices if you want to succeed.

After that?

Get on with step four.

Run out and throw yourself into life again.

______________________________

In 2009, Shawn Anderson finished the Extra Mile America Tour…a solo 4,000 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Boston. On the 90 day trip, he visited 21 cities and interviewed 200+ people who had overcome significant challenges in order to do something great.

Endorsed by leaders across the country, Shawn established “November 1″ as “Extra Mile Day” in 22 cities and states across the country.

Through all of this, he also gave away $10,000 (10 x $1,000) to the individuals whose stories he found most inspiring to the human spirit.

Shawn will be a featured “Guest Blogger” in 2010 for StopStressingNow.Com.

For more info about Shawn, visit www.ShawnAnderson.com.