There’s no denying that throughout life, stuff happens. Events happen and they aren’t always nice. They can feel quite devastating. The company we work for restructures and we lose our job. We contract an illness. Our spouse leaves. Someone we love passes away. The economy takes a dive. A global pandemic strikes. These things happen. And they will continue to happen.
The question is, do the things outside of our control – other people, events, etc. – determine the results we see in our lives?
Most people would say yes. Most people look at life and say:
Event = Outcome
But there is a component to that equation that is missing. Response.
The correct equation is:
Event + Response = Outcome
Your response to an event can make a tremendous difference to the outcome you get to experience.
And one thing to note is that these two components – event and response – they don’t carry equal weight in that equation. One of those has a much bigger impact on outcome.
As Dennis P. Kimbro puts it:
Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.
The component that makes all the difference to outcome, regardless of the severity of the event, is our response.
So, next time life throws out a challenge to you, take a pause, and think about the best response you can choose that will lead to the best outcome for you.
