Andy Neary's golf trip to Glenwood Springs got derailed by wildfires, so he and his friends pivoted to Aspen instead. He argues that controlling your reaction to setbacks, not the setbacks themselves, determines whether you find opportunity or just frustration.
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How well are you controlling your emotions right now? Let me share a quick story. Just got back from a little golf vacation with a couple buddies of mine. Call it a mancation. But we realized driving there, which was going to be playing golf in Glenwood Springs, was going to be very difficult due to all the wildfires burning in the state right now, literally, options A and B to get to Glenwood Springs were no longer an option. So we had to go with option C, which was a very rough dirt road over an unmarked pass to get into Glenwood Springs. But here's where the story gets interesting. You see, the second night, we were going to leave Glenwood Springs and come back to Vail, which would require us to go over that same off road pass to only learn that that too was closed. You see, literally, we had no option to get to back to Vail, except we could go south over McClure Pass, which was going to take four to five hours. Or we could go north all the way to Steamboat Springs, which was going to take another four to five hours, which would leave us angry, frustrated, and getting into veil late at night, only to go to bed. So what did we do? We said, let's control our mind, let's control our reactions. Why don't we just have fun right here? And here's what happened. We were able to find a ridiculously low rate at one of the best hotels in Aspen, Colorado, which is not easy to find. And we had an awesome night. My point is this. When you're able to control your mind and how you're reacting to everything around you right now, you'll come out with a pretty damn good outcome. But if you are letting the current environment get to you, make you anxious, frustrated, stressed out, you're always going to get the pessimistic outcome that you're focused on. So my advice to you right now, if you are not happy, you are not thrilled, you're finding you're getting the results you don't want, start by controlling your mind. Start by controlling your reactions to everything going on around you. Because if you do that, you will end up with a positive outcome. You will see the brighter side of everything, and you're going to come out of this whole pandemic in a much better position than if you just sit, sit and focus on the negative pessimism and challenges. So put a smile on your face, view this as an opportunity and go take the appropriate action right now.
