As we go through our life’s journey, we all have experiences that have helped to shape who we are now. When you think about it, we are nothing more than a sum of the experiences that we have gone through. Not all those experiences were good. Let’s face it! We’ve all had our share of negative experiences. Most of the times, we are quick to overlook the bad experiences in our lives and focus most of our attention on the good ones. Leaders, just like everyone else, have negative experiences or tough times that they go through. Good leaders understand that negative experiences are just as powerful and impactful to the growth of an individual, if not more than positive ones. The key to such growth lies in the ability of every individual to manage their bad experiences.

The overwhelming reason that most people would rather forget about their bad experiences is because of the pain that may have been associated with it. This is true in many cases and is one of the biggest roadblocks to an individual’s growth or development. There are too many sources of pain to list, but a few could stem from things such as the lack of experience, ineffectiveness, disappointment, change, making unpopular decisions, financial loss, or loss of relationships. These are factors which are at the root of many bad experiences that people go through every day. How can we turn our pain into growth and gain? There are a few things we can do that would send us in the right direction:

1) A Positive Attitude – Having a good attitude can have a positive influence on how we view any situation. Napoleon Hill wrote in his book, ‘Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude,’ that we become bigger, better and more successful when we face a problem or situation with a positive mental attitude. With the right attitude, we can find the learning points in any bad experience.

2) Unleash Your Creativity – Going through bad situations can expose us to our true selves. It is during these times when we find out what we are truly made of. During these bad circumstances, we are afforded the opportunities to be creative in the ways we go about finding solutions to the problems we must deal with.

3) Appreciate the Value of Bad Experiences – Bad experiences are obviously unpleasant and no one likes them, but if we can keep in mind that there is growth and victory on the other side of them, we will be more likely to pull out the learning points that will help make us better.

These points may sound too simplistic and sound easier to say than they are to do. Honestly, following these tips can be very challenging, especially while you are going through a rough experience. However, if you can manage to implement them into your life, you will see a difference in the way you see things.