Your failures do not define the outcome. You, the observer, the life force behind those eyes. You are the one who defines the outcome.
When you’re challenged by adversity or failure but you instead acknowledge that these occurrences are necessary for you to pivot and grow. Your acceptance will smoothly transition you into the next stage of your life with a lot less pressure than if you were to resist. Once this is mastered you are no longer a victim to your circumstance but rather an alchemist.
It’s a simple concept yet the process For mastering it can be challenging, especially when you’ve been emotionally reactive for the majority of your life. Consistency and mental cues are what determine your level of mastery in the field of Mental Alchemy.
The Key to facing hardship with understanding is to develop a great level of emotional regulation. This way you are willingly aligning yourself to the universal Law of Rhythm.
As Viktor Frankl suggested, having a strong “Why” to keep you anchored through this transition, can be an anchor reminding you to breathe, adapt and surrender.
Now, how can we apply Mental Alchemy as efficiently as possible? There are two core habits you can implement daily.
Mindful Meditation (To catch yourself) & The Shit to Gold Mindset (To flip the script). A concept I first picked up from Robert Greene’s 50th Law before knowing what alchemy was.
The ability to take a step back and observe your current situation before defining it and then flipping it in your favor. Many great leaders, conquerors and fighters had to develop this skill in order to become the best in their respective fields.
Daily meditation or breathwork, whether it be 5-10 minutes starting off, will build up over time if practiced consistently.
Now, what exactly does it mean to be mindful and how do we put it into practice? There are a couple of ways that you can implement mindfulness throughout your day and here’s how
1. The moment you wake up, remind yourself and speak of the things you are grateful for. Really appreciate them, envision them and ask yourself “Why am I grateful for this?”
2. Rather than complain, catch yourself. Breathe and remind yourself of the law. Some basic examples could be, you stub your toe, someone cancels plans, your car battery dies, someone provokes you. Remind yourself to be mindful and ask “how can I handle this properly and efficiently?” or “How can I turn this into a positive?”
3. When you eat. Being Mindful allows you to better enjoy your food, improves your digestion and increases your levels of gratitude
4. Practicing mindfulness during conversations by listening with enthusiasm, keeping mental notes and asking questions out of genuine curiosity
The second method, once you’ve acknowledged the situation allows you to flip the script. Here’s how you turn shit into gold
1. Pause, Breathe and Assess: interrupt the impulse to react
2. Ask, “What is this failure teaching me?” or “Is this something worth losing energy over?”
3. Reframe it: “This is happening for me not to me” and flip shit into gold
Practice these methods for at least a week. Everyday. I promise you, you WILL notice a level of presence you have never experienced before. This presence will give you the key to ride the wave.
Now, I’m not saying it’s easy, especially at the beginning but the more you put it into practice the sharper you’ll become.
With these two skills developed you will be able to switch any negative moment into leverage and turn your “failures” into stepping stones towards your goals.
From small occurrences to the hard hitters you will be able to adapt and accept any situation. Not from a place of weakness but from strength and understanding. A true Alchemist .