“I am glad that you made your experience count” Said my mentor. “They say If you get a chance to fall in love three times make each of them count.” I replied and we both laughed. The day I came across that statement was an Aha moment for me. In life rarely do we get what we want in every instance. We all have had situations that did not work out. We may look at them as downsides but in reality they were part of the process, part of our greatness journey. The challenge is to look at each experience and make it count. We may live looking for the best thing to happen so that we can celebrate it. The best job, the great breakthrough, the excellent relationship, the picture perfect moments. We however have a chance to make every experience count whether good or bad.

The reality of this thought had however not sunk until this week. In my usual research I came across the interesting story of Andrew Medal, an entrepreneur and angel investor. This title is however not where his life begins. Let me share a snippet of his story in his own words;

“When the gavel slammed, the judge spoke and I was sentenced to prison, all I could do was laugh. Mentally, I knew I had to get strong quickly. I had never been to prison. I had seen all of the movies and read all of the books you probably have, which helped contribute to my unknown fear of prison. I was in unfamiliar territory, and every corner and decision was a mystery. I had lost all my comfort; My life, my businesses, relationships, whatever. Everything that we (society), holds of importance and value. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I shook off the shock of my sentence. During the first week of prison, I made the conscious decision to make my stay the most productive two to five years of my life, no matter what. I knew I would be getting out, sooner or later, and knew that the only items I would be leaving with were the ones I entered with: my mind, body and soul. I committed to myself in an endless pursuit of sharpening these assets.

My everyday tactics reflected my vision to relentlessly improve my mind, my body and my soul. I wrote. I researched. I learned. I trained. I practiced. I developed. I became stronger, smarter and more enlightened through the commitment of my daily actions. Inmates live and die by what they call their “routine.” A routine is simply a daily list of activities they follow each day down to the minute. The mundane, repetitive cycle of daily prison life can drive a mentally weak person to the brink of insanity. You wake up every day at the same time, you eat the same food, you wear the same clothes, you see the same people, the same guards. I learned how to use this prison routine to my advantage by relentlessly scheduling every minute of my days.

I realized the most valuable resources I could receive would be from literature, newspapers, magazines and books. These would be the resources to help me accomplish my vision. Over the course of two years I read 197 books on different topics ranging from business to physics, from nonfiction to fiction and made every second of my days productive. Every day I pushed out negative thoughts and replaced them with positive ones. The negative thought of “You will never be able to accomplish anything stuck in prison” was replaced with “Actually, I can. I have the resources, the focus and the time.”

I was able to accomplish great things while in prison, including writing my first book, learning Korean and getting in the best shape of my life. The disconnection from the real world helped me to stay rooted in the present, which led to a laser-like focus on my goals. I woke up at 5 a.m. and did 200 burpees. My stomach felt like I was about to give a public speech, while in the same breath I knew I could walk on water if I tried. The confidence knowing that I conquered prison was and is incomparable. Every day, I focused on strengthening my mind, body and soul. These habits became the foundation of my life back in the free world.”

Remember back to the single worst event of your life: Did it defeat you and create a spiral effect of depression and loss? Or did you use it to your advantage, leverage your experience and turn it into the greatest moment that ever happened to you? Your attitude decides whether a situation is an ordeal or an adventure. Choose to adopt a positive mental attitude;

1. Consciously control and avoid your negative thinking.
2. Take action on problems rather than just hoping they disappear or waiting for them to resolve themselves.
3. Focus; Prioritize the things that matter most in your life and focus your efforts in these areas.
4. Count your blessings; The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have
5. Set realistic, achievable goals; The key is to build confidence by setting realistic goals and by hitting a lot of milestones rather than waiting for the major achievement.

“Our attitude towards life determines life’s attitude towards us and life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”