The World is for emotionally strong people.

After coaching and mentoring a relevant number of people and spending a lot of time trying to experience and understand cultural and educational diversity, I feel I have a little of experience when it comes to helping people find and resolve the pain points that have been holding them back.  But I am still frequently surprised by the interesting ways people frame questions about their challenges.

In the last few months I tried to put together a bunch of reflections born from discussion held with some good friends. Today after talking to a friend and touching several of the point upon which I wanted to base my next post on this blog I felt ready to write.

At the beginning I thought of giving as title for the post, “the world is for strong people only”. But as you can see I further elaborate J

My life and my past experiences thought me how to persistently follow through what I know I need to do for myself. And today I can say I’ve made progress, whereas most of the people around me often struggle with emotional weakness.  So I was wondering, what do emotionally strong people NOT do?  The reason I ask that to myself is that I’ve spent a lot of time implementing positive habits in my life, but in the last few years I started to focus on removing any (parallel) bad habits.

There are a million ways to answer this question, but since emotional weakness is something all of us struggle with at times, I figured I’d take a stab at answering my question in a general sense, for all of us who have pleasure to read the blog J.

Here are some things emotionally strong people don’t do:

1.       They don’t let negativity and drama get the best of them. – Your brain is a radio transmitter.  It broadcasts thoughts, directions and vibrations into your life – you get to choose the station it’s tuned to.  Emotionally strong people understand this and tune out negativity to make room for positivity. 

2.            They don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves. – Emotionally strong people don’t sit around feeling sorry about their circumstances or how others have treated them.  Instead, they take responsibility for their role in life, work on changing what can be changed, and keep in mind that life isn’t always easy or fair.  In the end, happiness is not the absence of problems, but simply the ability to deal well with them. 

3.            They don’t think they need more to be happy. – Emotionally strong people know that happiness is a mindset of appreciation.  In other words, happiness doesn’t start when “this, that or the other thing” is resolved.  Happiness is what happens now when you appreciate what you have.  (Read Authentic Happiness)

4.            They don’t compare their journey to everyone else’s. – Social comparison is the thief of happiness.  Do YOUR best and don’t compare your progress with that of others.  They aren’t YOU.  We all need our own time to travel our own distance.  Emotionally strong people know this is the truth, and they live by it.

5.            They don’t envy and resent other people’s success. – Emotionally strong people can genuinely appreciate and celebrate other people’s success.  They don’t grow envious or feel cheated when others achieve something they are trying to achieve.  Instead, they recognize that success comes with hard work, and they are willing to work hard for their own chance at success. 

6.            They don’t expect everything to be easy. – Emotionally strong people don’t view failures and delays as reasons to give up.  Instead, they use failure as an opportunity to grow and improve.  They are willing to keep trying until they get it right. 

7.                   They don’t say, “I can’t.” – As Henry Ford put it, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.”  Emotionally strong people know this is true. 

8.            They don’t let fleeting temptations distract them from their dreams. – Don’t let the temptations of today distract you from what you deserve.  Stay emotionally strong.  Do what you have to do now so you can do what you want to do later.

9.            They don’t get impatient and settle. – Good things don’t come to those who wait.  Good things come to those who are patient… while working hard for what they want most in life. 

10.        They don’t make the same exact mistakes over and over again. – You can’t make the same mistake twice.  Because the second time you make it, it’s no longer a mistake, it’s a choice.  Emotionally strong people accept responsibility for their behavior and learn from their past mistakes. 

11.         They don’t resist change. – Emotionally strong people don’t try to avoid change.  Instead, they welcome positive change into their life and are willing to be flexible.  They understand that change is inevitable and believe in their abilities to adapt. 

12.         They don’t waste time and energy on things they can’t control. – You won’t hear an emotionally strong person complaining over traffic jams and rainy days. 

13.         They don’t hang on every word other people say about them. – Emotionally strong people listen to their own heart and intuition, not the peanut gallery.  So try not to take things other people say about you too personally.  What they think and say is a reflection of them, not you.  Ultimately, you can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you.  All you can do is change how you react and who you choose to be around.

14.        They don’t think everyone is out to get them. – Emotionally strong people choose to see the good in others.  Because the truth is, the world is full of good people.  Whoever says otherwise hasn’t looked around.  So look around.  Appreciate them.  Connect and smile together.  When you choose to see the good in others, you end up finding the good in yourself.

15.          They don’t worry about pleasing everyone. – Emotionally strong people recognize that they don’t need to please everyone all the time.  They’re not afraid to say no or speak up when necessary. 

16.          They don’t think it’s too late to start over. – Let go of the idea that it’s too late to start over. 

Being in the right place at the right time

My questions: is it possible? Is patience enough? What about persistence?


1. Yes it is possible - in my opinion.

2. We need to intend patience not only as the ability to wait; but as the competence or capacity to wait without alter your attitude.

3. And Persistence as obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Given the above 3 pieces of food for thoughts there's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time.

But for every right time, there are thousands of wrong times.

Times where it feels like you're doing the wrong thing. Times where the data seems to show that your dream isn't worth it. That you're never going to achieve the big goals you set for yourself.

Being in the right place at the right time is really a lesson about persistence.

Its a reminder that a relentless pursuit of your goals is the only way to "get lucky."

You're going to feel stupid at times. You're going to look around and feel lonely. Even your friends are going to shake their head and remind you that what you're trying to attempt is madness.

That's just a reminder that your right time is coming. It's not today. Right now is not the moment where you're going to win.

But if you keep coming back to the right place; if you keep doing the things that success demands; you're going to be in the right place at the right time and accomplish mind-blowing feats of extraordinary success. That's not just possible, it is inevitable.

When you try hard enough for long enough you can't help but end up achieving your goals.

If you're not there yet, you shouldn't think that your goal is silly or impossible. You should just quietly remind yourself that today isn't the right time. Maybe tomorrow is.

Which is all the more reason to keep showing up.

It's the most important reason why you should keep trying; because tomorrow might be the day where you find yourself standing at the right place at the right time.

And when that happens, all of those wrong times and the frustration you feel, fade away in the glory of finally figuring it out. It's all worth it.

Your determination and focus guaranteed you the successful outcome you so desperately desired.

You can't change time. You can't change life.

You can't change most of what goes on around you.

You can decide if you're going to keep showing up.

If you stop doing the right thing before it starts working you have just done the wrong thing.