The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles Into Everyday Greatness

Adversity is one of the most potent forces in life. It shapes your character, clarifies your priorities, and defines your path. It can also fuel your greatness. Each of us faces a rich assortment of adversities every day, ranging from minor hassles to major setbacks and challenges, even tragedies. But merely coping with or overcoming adversity barely keeps you in the game. The key to success, both in business and in life, is learning how to become an alchemist and convert any adversity, major or minor, into a genuine advantage. The Adversity Advantage offers proven principles and practical tools that teach you how to use adversity as a force for superior achievement, resilience, agility, innovation, energy, and happiness.

Stoltz and Weihenmayer posit that any individual or enterprise can use adversity to power their ultimate success. Stoltz has spent decades decoding the human relationship with adversity and is the creator of the globally acclaimed Adversity Quotient®. His AQ® theory — the most widely used method in the world for measuring and strengthening how we deal with adversity — forms the foundation of this book. Weihenmayer is the exemplar of Stoltz's work and the seven principles taught in this book. He has triumphed over and gleaned tremendous advantage from seemingly insurmountable adversities, becoming the only blind man in history to reach the Seven Summits, the tallest peak on every continent, including Everest. These two adversity experts have married their dream-team combination of practical science and unmatched experience to develop seven guiding principles to teach you how to transform adversity into your most powerful advantage.

The Adversity Advantage blends Stoltz's proven leadership techniques and groundbreaking research with Erik's soul-stirring real-world anecdotes and wisdom. It will rewire your core response mechanisms to react optimally to anything that happens, the moment it strikes. You will move past avoiding or simply coping with adversity to harness its true power. Learn to pinpoint and grow your adversity strengths to bring out your best when you need it most, under pressure. Use adversity to pioneer new possibilities in your work and life.

Erik Weihenmayer is the world's leading blind athlete and the only blind person in history to reach the Seven Summits, including Everest. Erik inspires millions of people each year through his climbing expeditions, nonprofit outreach, and keynote presentations. He is author of Touch the Top of the World, which was made into a TV movie, and subject of the award-winning documentary Farther Than the Eye Can See. Erik has been featured on the cover of Time and lives with his family in Golden, Colorado. Paul G. Stoltz, Ph.D., founded and has been the CEO of PEAK Learning since 1987, a global research and consulting firm, and the director of the Global Resilience Project, working with top leaders and organizations worldwide. The originator of the globally acclaimed AQ (Adversity Quotient) method and author of the international bestsellers The Adversity Quotient and Adversity Quotient at Work, he resides with his family in San Luis Obispo, California. Recognized as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans, Stephen R. Covey has dedicated his life to demonstrating how every person can truly control their destiny with profound, yet straightforward guidance. As an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and author, his advice has given insight to millions. He has sold over 20 million books sold (in 38 languages), and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century. His most recent major book, The 8th Habit , has sold nearly 400,000 copies. He holds an MBA from Harvard, and doctorate degree from Brigham Young University. He is the co-founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey, the leading global professional services firm with offices in 123 countries. He lives with his wife and family in Utah.