Chapter 3. Your Choice: Victim or Resilient Survivor

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."

Mark Twain

There's no question that life is difficult, but the way you respond to those difficulties will determine whether you're a victim or a resilient survivor. That continuing choice has little to do with what happens to you and much to do with how you label its impact on your life. Optimists aren't looking for excuses or searching for people to blame. They're busy finding ways to bounce back and make the best of any setback. Instead of looking back, they're looking forward.

Micron Technology and its subsidiaries manufacture and market semiconductor devices worldwide. CEO Steve Appleton has no room for excuses in driving for the results that mean survival for his company: "I don't believe in being a good loser. It's a ridiculous concept. Maybe it would be a super world if there were no winners and losers. I don't think there has been any time in human history where that was true. That's not the way it is. People in other countries want what we've got, and they're going to go after it. Hey, I'm not going to teach my kids that it's OK to lose. Somebody is going to want their jobs. Somebody is going to want their standard of living. They need to know life isn't fair. Wake up and get used to it."

"The search for someone to blame is always successful."

Robert Half

No matter what life deals you, refuse to label yourself a victim! Depending ...

Get The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.