Some people possess an extraordinary ability to rise to the occasion when the pressure is at its peak.

These remarkable individuals don’t just endure—they thrive in situations that would overwhelm most.

When backed into a corner or thrown into a crisis, they remain steady, focused, and in control. They have grit. They have resolve.

They don’t just stay calm—they embrace the challenge.

Sounds heroic, almost unattainable? What if I told you that this kind of resilience isn’t reserved for a rare few? In fact, you can cultivate it in your own life.

You can learn to dig deep, stay strong, and achieve incredible things even under intense pressure.

In this report, we’ll dive into life’s toughest moments and uncover a practical, six-step system to help you navigate them with confidence.

This approach is simpler than you might think—and more powerful than you can imagine.

Are you ready to discover where your best work truly comes from? Let’s get started!

The Worst of Times

Life can be pretty hard sometimes, on so many levels. Every day we face new crises, coupled with a healthy dose of stress and worry.

It seems that no sooner do we get one problem solved than there’s something else creeping in to take its place.

What’s worse, every last one of these issues seems to require every ounce of your resources just to get through them.

It sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?

In these chapters, we’ll examine how ten certain events often cause the “worst of times” for us. What we mean is these events challenge us in multiple ways.

With so much pressure, it’s no wonder we need to dig deep to overcome.

For the purpose of this report, we would like to look at the following events:

• Hopes / Dreams are Dashed
• Tough Deadlines
• Medical Emergencies
• Change in Career
• Financial Trouble
• Natural Disaster
• Falling Out with Family
• Relationship Ending
• Making the Wrong Choice
• Societal Issues

Let’s examine each of these in a little more detail.

Hopes/Dreams are Dashed

Everyone has something they’ve longed for—an aspiration, a dream, or a hope they’ve carried throughout their life.

From childhood, we begin imagining possibilities, whether it’s wishing for a pony, a new bike, or something far grander as we grow older.

These dreams evolve with us, becoming deeply personal, filling our thoughts, quickening our pulse, and driving us forward.

They are the visions that inspire us at night and motivate us by day.

Losing a cherished dream can be devastating.

When something we’ve invested so much time, energy, and emotion into disappears, it can feel like a part of us vanishes with it.

The grief that follows is real and often mirrors the process of mourning any significant loss.

Some people struggle to move on, becoming trapped in the shadow of what could have been, unable to fully embrace the life they still have.

Even in less extreme cases, the loss of a dream can bring feelings of sadness, anxiety, and regret, leaving an undeniable mark on our emotional well-being.

Tough Deadlines

Deadlines aren’t just a part of work—they’ve been shaping our lives since childhood.

From the first school assignment to the countless responsibilities of adulthood, nearly everything comes with an expected time of completion.

While we often focus on the deadlines tied to our jobs—mainly because they affect our paycheck—any deadline can feel overwhelming when the stakes are high enough.

What many don’t realize is the psychological toll deadlines take. You’re already familiar with the stress they bring, but have you considered the hidden cost?

Procrastination and last-minute scrambling don’t just create pressure—they can actually harm your brain.

When we experience intense stress, our bodies produce excess cortisol, a hormone that, in high levels, can damage brain cells and stifle creativity.

That’s a steep price to pay for putting things off, isn’t it?

And that’s not all—chronic stress from looming deadlines can contribute to serious health issues, including high blood pressure, insomnia, and even heart disease.

Understanding these risks makes it even more important to manage deadlines wisely and protect both your mind and body.

Medical Emergencies

There are a lot of things that qualify under the heading of medical emergencies.

This can mean anything from the effects of being in a sudden car accident to finding out you’ve been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

The problems with these medical emergencies lie in the suddenness of them.

They come on you without a lot of warning, so you wind up living in uncertainty for a time, while the situation is figured out.

From there comes in a whole host of intense emotions, including everything from worry and fear to impatience, frustration, and in the worst cases, deep intense sorrow and possibly depression.

Change in Career

You wouldn’t think a change in career would be considered the worst of times, given most people see a career change as a steppingstone to better and more positive things.

Of course, this might still apply here eventually after the dust settles.

What we’re focusing on in this book are the unexpected career changes that come from being laid off or fired.

The effects of career change hit on every level. The first is in your finances obviously, but there’s a lot of other influences which have to be considered.

Emotionally this can really do a number on a person, especially if you’re unprepared.

You might suffer in self-image, especially if the reason for the termination has anything to do with your job performance.

There’s also a lot of pain and uncertainty over what you’re going to do next.

Add to that a desperate, even obsessive need to find a new job, and it’s no wonder you’re a wreck.

Financial Trouble

This topic ties into the previous discussion, as losing your job can certainly have a major financial impact.

However, financial crises can arise in many different ways, making it a subject worth addressing on its own.

A sudden illness without insurance, an unexpected car repair after a fender bender, or even broader economic shifts—like rising living costs without a matching increase in income—can all push someone into financial distress.

Money troubles often trigger an immediate sense of panic, activating the body’s fight-or-flight response.

Before you’ve even had a chance to think through possible solutions, your system is flooded with adrenaline, heightening your stress levels.

This reaction happens because, to our brains, financial security is directly linked to survival. When that security is threatened, we instinctively go into crisis mode.

The problem is that prolonged financial stress takes a serious toll.

The body isn’t built to sustain high levels of adrenaline over time, and the longer it takes to resolve the situation, the more lasting the effects can be. In extreme cases, financial trauma can leave a lasting imprint, making it difficult to ever feel truly secure about money again—almost like a form of financial PTSD.

Natural Disaster

Earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes—these and other natural disasters strike with little to no warning, often leaving devastation in their wake.

In many cases, there’s nothing you can do to prevent the destruction. At best, prior preparation might lessen the impact.

At worst, you could lose everything—including someone you love.

The emotional toll of a natural disaster is immense. Grief, fear, and anger compound the loss of possessions, pets, or, most tragically, loved ones.

It’s not uncommon to feel completely helpless in the aftermath, and for many, the trauma lingers long after the event.

PTSD is a real possibility, and if you’ve sustained physical injuries, the effects may last a lifetime, altering your health and daily life in ways you never anticipated.

Falling Out with Family

Every family has its fair share of disagreements, but this isn’t about minor squabbles—it’s about the deep, divisive conflicts that split families apart, where sides are chosen, relationships fracture, and loved ones go years without speaking.

Family members have a unique ability to push our buttons—after all, they’re the ones who installed them.

The emotional bonds and shared history we have with our relatives make these conflicts especially painful.

Separation from family can feel unnatural, and the emotional fallout is often intense.

Anger is just the surface; beneath it lies betrayal, sadness, grief, and even a sense of loss.

Worse, unresolved family rifts can take a serious toll on mental health.

If you need proof, just consider why so many therapists focus on a patient’s relationship with their parents and childhood experiences as a key part of the healing process.

The emotional wounds left by family conflicts can linger for years, shaping how we see ourselves and the world around us.

Relationship Ending

This one seems obvious—whether it’s a divorce or a breakup, the emotional impact is often just as intense.

What might surprise you, though, is how deeply a breakup affects the brain.

Studies have shown that people who have recently ended a relationship experience withdrawal symptoms similar to those of someone coming off a drug high.

Even more striking, breakups activate the brain’s pain centers, meaning the heartache you feel isn’t just emotional—it’s physical.

The pain of loss is quite literally wired into our biology, making separation one of the most challenging experiences to endure.

Making the Wrong Choice

No one gets it right every time—making mistakes is simply part of life. But some decisions carry heavier consequences than we anticipate.

A wrong choice can be anything from marrying the wrong person to pursuing an unfulfilling career or moving into a neighborhood that turns out to be unsafe or unpleasant.

The impact of these decisions can be profound. Emotionally, they can bring everything from sadness and regret to anger and frustration.

In some cases, the consequences go beyond emotional distress—they can be life-altering or even life-threatening.

Choosing a spouse who becomes abusive or settling in a dangerous area can put your safety at risk, making certain decisions among the most critical ones we face.

Societal Issues

The world itself can quickly become the source of life’s hardest moments.

Political unrest, riots, pandemics, and poverty are just a few examples—turn on the news, and the list seems endless.

Any one of these events can lead to isolation, bringing with it a cascade of challenges, from depression and anxiety to PTSD, phobias, and worsening mental health conditions.

And that’s without even considering the physical risks that societal crises can pose, increasing the likelihood of harm or even loss of life.

When you step back and look at these challenges, they can feel overwhelming—even discouraging.

But they all have one thing in common: none of them are easily overcome.

Facing these hardships requires hard work, determination, and an unwavering sense of resolve.

And that’s exactly what we’ll explore in the next section of this report.

Finding Your Resolve

In this chapter, we will share a 6-step system to help you find your resolve in the worst of times.

Here’s where you’re going to learn how to take back control, to get your best work done, even when things around you are at their absolute worst. 

The steps are simple and even logical. The beauty of this system is how they come together to create a solution to just about any problem.

In short, the whole thing looks like this:

• Acceptance
• Count Your Blessings
• Make a Plan
• Break it Down
• Take Action
• Check-In

This is a list worth taking apart and looking at in more detail.

Acceptance

Whenever you find yourself in a difficult situation, the first step toward overcoming it is facing the reality of what’s happening.

This process—confronting the truth—is what we call acceptance.

Acceptance might sound simple, but in reality, it’s anything but. Our brains instinctively resist it.

We don’t want to believe things are as bad as they seem, or we’d rather rewrite the past with a different outcome than the one staring us in the face.

The challenge comes from how our minds process adversity. On one level, we search for solutions to fix the problem itself.

On another, we’re also trying to manage the emotions that come with it.

If we’re still caught up in trying to “fix” things mentally, we haven’t yet accepted the situation for what it truly is.

Of course, most problems can be solved with this approach.

If your car gets a flat tire, for example, you’ll immediately start figuring out a plan—whether that means calling roadside assistance or changing the tire yourself.

At the same time, you’ll work through the emotions, reassuring yourself that being late isn’t the end of the world.

But when you’re dealing with massive, life-altering challenges, this method falls short. At some point, you have to step back and acknowledge, This happened.

Some things are entirely out of your control, at least initially.

Steps to Acceptance

Acceptance isn’t just a mindset shift—it’s a process. To help illustrate how it works, let’s use an extreme but clear example: a tornado.

Step 1: Step Back

When disaster strikes, your first instinct might be to react emotionally—but that won’t help.

Instead, you need to mentally step outside the situation and engage the logical part of your brain.

In our example, this means resisting panic when the tornado siren blares and a funnel cloud appears on the horizon. This is the moment to think, What’s happening?

The answer is straightforward: I’m in the middle of a tornado.

Step 2: Examine Your Emotions

In any crisis, overwhelming emotions are natural. Fear, panic, and concern for loved ones may flood in.

Rather than letting them control you, acknowledge them without letting them take over.

In this case, you recognize the fear and worry—but you don’t let them dictate your actions.

Step 3: Identify the Root Thought

Every emotion is fueled by a thought. Understanding that thought can strip the emotion of its power.

In this scenario, your fear might stem from hearing about a previous tornado where people didn’t survive. You might be thinking, That could happen to me.

Recognizing this helps separate perception from reality.

Step 4: Check Your Body’s Response

Your physical reaction can amplify your emotions. A racing heart, shaky hands, shallow breathing—these automatic responses can intensify fear.

In our example, you might notice that your thoughts are racing or that your body feels tense.

Step 5: Slow Your Breathing

One of the most effective ways to regain control is through deep breathing. Try inhaling for four counts, holding for four counts, and exhaling for eight counts.

This technique, used by Navy SEALs in high-stress situations, floods your body with calming chemicals.

Even in the middle of a crisis, you have time to regulate your breathing—once you’re in a safe place.

Step 6: Look at the Situation Rationally

Once you’ve calmed your mind and body, your ability to think critically returns.

This is when true acceptance happens—you acknowledge what’s happening and shift into problem-solving mode.

Returning to our example, you now see the tornado on the horizon, but instead of panicking, you’re ready to act. You focus on getting yourself and your family to safety.

Building Your Acceptance Muscle

This process may seem extreme, but it works for any situation. The more you practice, the faster you’ll be able to move from emotional reaction to clear-headed action.

Mastering these steps allows you to pull yourself out of distress and focus on what matters—finding a way forward.

Count Your Blessings

This report is focusing on some severe life-changing situations. Why in the world would counting you’re your blessings even be included here?

You’re in a crisis, and you need to resolve it, you’re going to dig deep and force your way out of things. This is fighting for what matters, remember.

How in the world can you be expected to know what you’re fighting for if you don’t know what matters in the first place?

Here is where you need to take some time to consider everything you do have. If you’re a little foggy on finding the silver linings right now, you can be easily forgiven.

In a crisis, it’s so hard to see anything good at all.

That’s why we have some steps here to help you to find ways to count your blessings, especially when you’re not feeling it.

Look at Things Rationally

Once your mind is calmer, you have access to creative problem-solving skills. 

Here’s where you finally can accept the situation in a way where you can act positively to start doing something about it.

This is where resolve is born, which you’re going to need from here on out.

Visiting our example one last time shows us the tornado still on the horizon but with a difference.

You’re calmer now, accepting the situation and are ready to move on to the next steps, in this case, acting to get your family to safety.

Our example might have seemed a little extreme, but hopefully, it illustrated how to go about building acceptance in an easy to understand sequence.

The beauty of this system is it’s something easy to practice.

Mastery of these steps means you can take yourself out of an emotional situation and into action very quickly.

Start Paying Attention to Today

Anytime we’re in crisis, we start looking into the future more than we should.

We start focusing on the trouble we’re into the point where we lose sight of where we are as we become lost in the world of “what if” and “how will this end?”

The problem is staring into the future, especially when things are difficult is never going to look good to you. Instead, you need to draw back to the here and now.

What’s going on right this minute? Practicing mindfulness is a great way to bring you back to the moment.

Once you have this focus, find something you can be grateful for. Likely you’ll spot something right in front of you.

In the cancer scenario, it might be something as apparent as being thankful for the doctor who gave you the diagnosis.

After all, if they hadn’t found cancer in the first place, you would have died without treatment.

Find Something You Enjoy

Even in a crisis, you need to find a way to distract yourself to handle the situation with clarity.

And since resolve wants you to count your blessings, why not give it something to count? Listen to a favorite song, eat dessert, enjoy a sunset, do something you love.

In our cancer example, this is more important than ever.

It’s these moments you savor, which you’ll hold on to later during treatment and will give you the strength to fight.

Spend Time With Those You Love

Aren’t the people we love already blessings? If you need a reminder, then you obviously need to spend more time in their company.

Call a friend, plan a lunch, or somehow connect to someone who is deeply meaningful to you.

For our cancer example, you can see the importance of this as every cancer fight needs an ally, someone who can stand with you, be your advocate, lend a hand if you’re feeling weak from treatment, and act as a cheerleader to keep your spirits up.

That person is the one you need to spend time with right now. Aren’t you thankful you have them?

Recognize Where You’re Happy Now

Even in a crisis, you’re very likely to be experiencing at least a few things going right.

Even something so small as finding a parking place near the door can be something to celebrate if you’re not feeling good. Take note of these moments.

For example, the person going through cancer will notice a lot of these moments in the small kindnesses given by those who understand.

Small comforts in the moment can mean everything when we face an uncertain future.

Being able to count your blessings is essential to find your resolve.

These are moments to be savored and drawn out to enjoy again later, which they might strengthen you when your energy is flagging.

You’ll find being able to focus on your blessings brings you energy back up when you need it most.

Make a Plan

It seems obvious you need to make a plan at some point to build your resolve. You’re going to need it to manage the crisis.

The key here, though, is to create a plan which is intelligent and well thought out, so you have the highest degree of possible success.

You can’t just throw together any old thing and think it will do the job.

Speaking of jobs, in this section, let’s use as our example, losing your job, as we work through these next steps.

How do you make a plan which is smart and savvy?

What’s the Lesson?

You start by focusing on the disaster you’re currently in. What have you already learned from this experience?

What have others learned from being in a similar experience?

These lessons are crucial in making a plan to get back on your feet as it’s always better to go with what you know is going to work, if at all possible, and to avoid what doesn’t.

In our example of losing your job, this is where you need to understand exactly why you lost your position in the first place.

Was it you or something you did, or was this a corporate decision that had nothing to do with you at all? What does this information tell you?

How can you use it to protect yourself from future layoffs?

Create a SMART Goal

You’ve probably heard this acronym before. Think of this goal as being:

• Specific – what precisely are you trying to accomplish?
• Measurable – how will you know when you accomplish it?
• Attainable – how is this goal within your reach?
• Relevant – how does this goal help to solve the bigger problem?
• Time-Bound – what is your timeline for attaining this goal?

With this in mind, your SMART goal for losing your job might look like this:

• Specific: find a new job
• Measurable: earning a comparable salary
• Attainable: somewhere within a radius of an hour commute in a similar field.
• Relevant: employed in a full-time position
• Time-Bound: within three months.

Now, these factors might vary if this were your job search. This scenario is, after all, only an example.

How Should You Implement?

You have your goal, how are you going to put it into action?

This is a whole different section of your plan, where you lay out some concrete ideas to make things start happening.

Here’s were resolve starts to really kick into gear because now you’re getting ready to move. Make a list of all your ideas.

In our example, this list might include things like calling recruiters or taking a class for a certification to make you more employable.

Consider the Angles

Are you sure you got everything you needed? Here’s where you go back over your plan and revise it. Are you addressing all the needs of the situation?

Are there aspects you’ve left untouched?

In our example about the job, you might not have included the fact you would like to consider management training because it seemed too impossible.

Here is where you might want to consider it again from another angle. What would the training get you in the long run? Where do you really see yourself eventually?

Would this help you to reach those goals, therefore making it worth the time and expense?

Drop the Distractions

Too often, our initial attempts at planning include too many things which really aren’t necessary at all.

Are there parts of your plan which really don’t make sense, or are nothing more than distractions from your actual goal?

Whittle out the junk and focus on doing only those things which are essential to your goals.

This is especially important now while you’re in crisis when you maybe don’t have time for everything on your list.

In our example, perhaps you included a desire to travel to other cities to look for a job there. Is a move efficient or beneficial right now? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.

Break it Down

Right now, your plan might look a little unwieldy. You’ve got some great things on it, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed when it’s still in this broad format.

In this step, you’re going to take your plan apart and put it into smaller pieces that are much easier to handle.

Remember the old adage: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Now you’re getting down to the business of eating your elephant. Every item on your plan needs to be put into its smallest pieces.

Imagine this if you will: the crisis you’re dealing with in this section is money problems.

You’ve set various things in your plan, such as “build a budget” or “get a part-time job,” but while you feel those are still good ideas, they seem a little daunting.

Where do you begin?

To break down tasks into smaller pieces, try following these steps:

Define What You’re Looking At

Are you dealing with a project or a task? Tasks are small and easy to get done in a short amount of time. Projects are made up of several tasks.

In our example, “find a second job” would be a project, while “reduce spending” on your budget would be a task since you can likely manage this task by staring at your expenses for an hour and making check marks next to items you don’t really need.

Define Milestones

Milestones are simple in that they’re large enough to spot easily in your plan.

These are not the ultimate building blocks of your projects, but rather are clusters of tasks.

In our example, “Call around to see who’s hiring” would likely be a milestone, made up of tasks involving making several individual phone calls.

Make a List

If you’re still not sure how to break things down, put it in steps that are simple and very easy to understand.

Break it Down

Look at your list. Is everything there in its smallest pieces yet, or are there things you can still pull out more tasks?

Keep in mind, a task should never take longer than the increment of time you want to sit at your desk and work.

This might be an hour, or it might be you’re taking things in 15-minute chunks. This depends entirely on you and the situation you’re in.

Some crises call for big grandiose plans to work through. Others, not so much.

In this example, fixing your finances is probably not a full-time job so you’re probably going to want to break your plan down into tiny pieces so you can work on this nights and weekends and when you have odd moments, so your parts might be designed to reflect what you can get done in the hour after dinner or in smaller increments you can work on during your lunch break.

Take Action

Planning is so easy. Why is it so hard to act?

When we’re in crisis and need to really dig in and do things, the key to remember is the very act of digging deep and doing something is action.

Up until now, you haven’t had to do the hard part.

Before you get mad and point out how you’ve spent a lot of time getting emotions under control and building plans, this is all very true.

But so far, you’ve still been playing it safe. Creating plans keeps you at arm’s length from dealing with the disaster.

Now it’s time to go in and get your hands dirty. Sometimes literally.

This is where you prove how heroic you are. You are up against a formidable enemy.

Your particular crisis is coming to a head, and you have got to dig in and be the one who changes the script. You’re NOT going to be a victim, you’re NOT going to fail.

To do this requires action. It absolutely requires action.

OK, this might seem overwhelming. Need some help? Let’s grab some quick tips for jumping into action.

For this section, let’s go back into our examples. Say you’ve got a crucial deadline for work to deal with.

Stop

This seems weird when you’re supposed to be acting, but seriously, take a minute and just stop what you’re doing.

If you’re worried about taking action, you need to settle yourself. Breathe. Meditate. Pull yourself back into the moment.

Nothing happens until you’re ready for it to happen. In our example, remember the work is still there.

A few minutes will make no difference in getting your work done, so feel free to take the time to relax your mind before beginning for the sake of a better outcome while working.

Setup Your Goal

Which small task from your goal are you working on? There’s no need to start with the most significant item. In fact, starting small is probably better.

You’ll be able to get through the task quickly and gain the feeling of accomplishment from it, which you can feed into the next task.

If you’re feeling exceptionally resistant to moving, you might want to pick several minimal tasks to do in a row, just to get yourself going.

In our example, take the smallest pieces of the project, you can do to make your deadline.

Drop the Screens

You’re in a crisis that is already distracting enough.

You certainly don’t need to be adding to the pile of things vying for your attention by having all of social media at your beck and call.

Seriously, it might just help to walk away from everything electronic for a while to get yourself back on track again so you can buckle down and work.

In our example, this is especially true with deadlines.

This kind of hard push falls prey very quickly to the procrastination provided by items with screens such as your phone.

Dive In

Just…work. What else can you do? This is where you act, and you keep acting until the task is over and done with. ‘Nuff said.

Repeat, Remembering the Consequences if You Don’t

It doesn’t hurt to remind yourself of the cost of not getting things done. Things are pretty bad right now, or you wouldn’t be pushing yourself like this.

Much as an imminent feeling you’re going to die if you don’t do something is highly motivational, the fact you’re in crisis works much the same.

Pushing yourself is hard work, and honestly should only be done when the situation demands it.

Otherwise, you run the risk of harming your health by continually working too hard. For right now, use the threat of dire circumstances.

Just remember to find a balance. In our example, what if you were to get fired for not making the deadline. How does this motivate you?

Check-In

So how are you doing? If you’ve been following the steps, you are profoundly engaged in the process by now. You’re feeling what it’s like to be filled with resolve.

You’re digging deep and finding reserves you never even knew you had until now. In short, you’re nailing it…right?

Or not.

Take a few minutes now for an honest assessment. Are there areas where you might need to adjust the plan? If so, jump in and do so now. Is your energy flagging?

Maybe it’s time to grab a little of the support you set up earlier. Are you feeling discouraged?

Go back to exploring your gratitude options to help you feel more positive again. Whatever you need right now, it’s all there in the steps of the plan.

The key is to do this check-in often. This is because it’s so easy to start off full of energy and enthusiasm and to start flagging when you’re down the road a little way.

What you need to remember here is that you’re in a difficult situation, or you wouldn’t be reading this book.

So be a little bit kinder as you go, and don’t beat yourself up if you need to go back over the steps again.

The fact you’re even trying makes you a remarkable human being. This is something you should never forget.

Conclusion

So, how did it go? Are you still feeling a little more as though you have a handle on things?

Life is hard. What you’ve done here today just in reading this report shows you have grit and determination already.

You’re not one to just lie down and concede defeat when the going gets tough. No, you’re here, and that’s a beautiful thing.

As you go forward in implementing the strategies of this report, you need to remember a couple of key points:

First, change isn’t going to happen overnight. You’re dealing with some significant issues, and it’s going to take time to dig in and get a handle on them.

The key here is persistence and a whole lot of repetition.

If you’ve genuinely found your resolve, you’re going to make it, even if you have a stumbling start, falter along the way, or also need to start over at some point.

Your persistence, your grit, perseverance are going to be what makes a difference.

And the other point?

You’re already a hero just for striving to find your resolve get ahead when it matters most. Go you! Now get out there and conquer your world.

All those tough things will never stand a chance once you get going. It’ll be a fantastic thing to see!