I so nearly didn’t make my 20th birthday …

 

During my 19th year, a group of thugs randomly beat me up, I had a knife held to my throat by my girlfriend’s ex and I survived a car roll-over at speed!

 

Each event was terrifying at the time and, whilst I joke about it now, I learnt one very valuable lesson that year …

 

No matter what happens, I know without doubt that I can keep my head in an extreme crisis.

 

Most people, luckily, aren’t ever put in a situation where they can test that. I was able to 3 times … in one year!

 

Unbelievably, these experiences can be the greatest gift, depending on what you learn from them.

 

I believe they changed me … for the better. 

 

They gave me an internal core confidence and stability that can only come from being tested to the extreme. I know there’s not much that ever fazes me, either personally or professionally. And it’s amazing how that affects how I show up and approach life at home or at work.

 

And whilst I might have given my parents a few more grey hairs that year, I look back at that time and am truly grateful for the lessons.

 

So, I’m interested … what life experience have you had, good or bad, that has in some way helped shape the person you are today? ??