Hello, Adversity Weekly Roundup #07 - March 18, 2023
Hello, Adversity Weekly Roundup #07 - March 18, 2023
Short Round and George of the Jungle are Academy Award winners. Anything is possible.
Hi everyone!
I hope you all had a great week. I tried to think of something clever to say here in my opening paragraph but am coming up with a blank. I did eat a green bagel on St. Patrick’s Day, however. The taste was fine but….it was strange. It was like eating a giant Froot Loop.
Without further ado, here are this week’s links:
I don’t usually pay much attention to the Academy Awards, outside of seeing who won. I don’t watch too many movies. This year however, I was thrilled for the four who won the Best Actor/Best Actress awards. Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan all picked up their first Oscars. I love when that happens.
These four have taken long, winding roads to the top of their profession. Consider:
Michelle Yeoh was the first Asian woman to ever win Best Actress.
Brendan Fraser was once best known for….George of the Jungle.
Jamie Lee Curtis was an actress for 45 years before receiving an Academy Award nomination.
Ke Huy Quan thought his career was over after starring as a child in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies in the 1980s. He couldn’t find any acting work. He only returned to acting in 2021.
Each dealt with adversity and self-doubt in their careers. But it shows, once again, that no matter how many failures and setbacks you encounter, your best days can still be ahead of you. Age is just a number.
Quan summed it up best:
“Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine…To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.”
This article explores our love/hate relationship with our devices. Rather than accept the fact that we are helpless doomscrollers, we should critically analyze the why behind our behaviors. A lot of it comes down to compulsive habits we’ve picked up over the years. Scrolling fills the time and provides a momentary distraction, but the reward is short-lived.
Unfortunately, I am guilty of habitual phone checking. In the time it took me to write this email, I checked my phone three times. (Okay, four times.)
“New data suggests that for almost 70% of people, their manager has more impact on their mental health than their therapist or their doctor—and it’s equal to the impact of their partner.”
Wow - although, in a way, not too surprising. A boss can be the difference between loving and hating your job, and since most of our waking hours are spent working, this makes sense. I have had my share of good and bad bosses in my career, and can attest that a bad boss can be a drain on one’s psyche. (To my former bosses who subscribe to this newsletter, I don’t mean you!)
If you’re a boss, this might feel like a lot of pressure. In a sense, it is. You can impact the well-being of your direct reports. The article goes on to provide several tips for being an effective and caring leader. Remember: you don’t have to be perfect.
March Madness
This Thursday began the three most exciting weeks of the year here in the United States: the NCAA Tournament. It took all the self-control I could muster not to have all my links this week be about basketball, but I enjoy having subscribers and know better.
BUT there is a tie-in to adversity worth mentioning: the Furman Paladins.
Last year, Furman’s hopes of playing in the 2022 NCAA Tournament were dashed in the most excruciating way possible:
As you can imagine, the team was devastated. Many of the players had the opportunity to go elsewhere, but decided to stick it out, not wanting that moment to be their lasting memory.
This year, they got revenge on Chattanooga and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In itself, that was satisfying. But they weren’t done! On Thursday, they got the chance to break someone else’s heart.
That someone: the Virginia Cavaliers:
2022: devastation. 2023: redemption.
Sports are the best.
If you have any feedback on today’s email or want to send me a story to include in the future, please email me at HelloAdversity@substack.com or drop a comment below.
Never give up - persistence and effort pays off!!