We’re too comfortable. Growing up, we’re all taught that the best situation is the one where everything goes according to plan. Adversity is something to be avoided or, at the very least, tolerated. This book is here to tell you the opposite. Adversity is the ultimate opportunity to learn and grow. In fact, it’s the key to unlocking success, if only we can learn to embrace it and apply its lessons constructively. By diving into the stories of some of the greatest athletes, coaches, and sports figures of all time, this book will explore the common thread that brings them all together: using hardship as fuel to unlock opportunity. By breaking down the eight characteristics that we need to cultivate to make the most of adversity, this book will be your guide in leveraging your challenges into the critical life skills necessary to thrive. www.thegameofadversity.com

1. How To TURN
Life’s Toughest Challenges
Into Your
Greatest Opportunities
(Or, 8 Building Blocks to Turn Every Problem
Into a Good Thing)
N I C K D I N A R D O

2. “Sweetaretheusesofadversity,
Which,likethetoad,uglyandvenomous,
Wearsyetapreciousjewelinhishead;
Andthisourlife,exemptfrompublichaunt,
Findstonguesintrees,booksintherunningbrooks,
Sermonsinstones,and goodineverything.
-Shakespeare,AsYouLikeItAct2,scene1,12-17

3. How do you approach life’s
challenges?
When you hear the word “struggle”
what comes to mind?
How do we build a life worth living?
One that we are proud of?
How Do You Solve Your Problems?

4. The most successful people on the planet find
a way to turn every difficulty into their
greatest hits collection. And most of them
used a variation of the 8 principles I’ll lay
out here. They find a way to make sure that
failure does not destroy them, but is the very
reason they prosper.
Here’s the Secret

5. Benjamin Franklin was Wrong
FRANKLIN ONCE SAID “IN THIS WORLD NOTHING CAN BE
CERTAIN, EXCEPT DEATH AND TAXES.
HE WAS WRONG.
There are three things in this world that are certain:
death, taxes, and adversity.
Call it what you want: adversity, struggle, challenge,
failure, obstacles…we ALL stare it down at one point or
another each day, week, month, and year of our lives.

6. What’s the story YOU tell yourself about
adversity? Because the story you tell
yourself will decide your fate. Adversity
creates opportunity. Each moment should be
leaned into, not avoided.

7. We can learn the skills necessary to use
adversity to our advantage. Respected
research in brain science and psychology
reveal how. And to boot, human stories from
around the world demonstrate it’s
power.

8. I’ve built a formula for developing a
skillset for the inevitable battles with
adversity. Worked on together, you’ll be able
to turn every adversity moment to your
advantage. Sports provides a powerful vessel
in which to illustrate these principles. Here’s
a sneak peek at how you can use them to
overcome adversity

9. Principle ONE
“And the day came when the risk to remain
tight in a bud was more painful than the risk
it took TO BLOSSOM” - Anais Nin
MINDSET

10. THE GROWTH MINDSET
The growth mindset is the cornerstone…the
keystone habit, to using adversity to your
advantage. The growth mindset is the first
step – and the most important one – in
getting everything right.

11. “In a fixed mindset students believe their basic
abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are
just fixed traits…In a growth mindset students
understand that their talents and abilities can
be developed through effort, good teaching and
persistence. They don’t necessarily think
everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein,
but they believe everyone can get smarter if
they work at it” – Carol Dweck, Acclaimed
Psychologist
THE GROWTH MINDSET

12. Bill Walsh – hall of fame head coach and GM of the San Francisco
49ers – effectively used the principles of growth mindset to change
the San Francisco 49ers from worst team in the NFL to a winning
dynasty. HE focused everyone – from the receptionist to the
quarterback – to do everything through the lens of learning and
growth. Whether it was tying your shoelace or throwing the winning
touchdown, everything was done through his standard of
performance. Today, he is now known as one of the most PROLIFIC AND
innovative coaches of all time.
BILL WALSH

13. Principle TWO
“IF THE PATH BE BEAUTIFUL, LET US NOT
ASK WHERE IT LEADS” - ANATOLE
FRANCE
RESPECT THE PROCESS

14. The understanding of the process is crucial. By
really knowing anD understanding the process
we can take advantage of our “human compound
interest”. The more we focus on the process
rather than the outcome, the more we focus on
practicing rather than the trophy, the more
likely we will get the trophy. Focusing on the
small steps makes the big steps PSYCHOLOGCIALLY
and psychically surmountable.
THE SANCTITY OF PROCESS

15. Michelle Kwan – the most decorated figure skater in u.s. history –
spent her entire skating career “respecting the process”. After a
disappointing silver medal in the 1998 Olympics, people questioned
why she was returning to compete in the 2002 Olympic games. Kwan
responded “When people say I stayed to win the Olympics, no, I stayed
in to tRY and win the olympics”. It wasn’t the end goal that mattered
– It was the work that did. It was the drip-drip-drip process of
constantly learning, constantly improving, that mattered to her. She
ended her career career with five world championships and nine u.s.
championships.”
MICHELLE KWAN

16. Principle THREE
“To be in hell is to drift;
to be in heaven is to steer”
- George Bernard Shaw
Focus on what you can control

17. We are all faced with constraints – whether
social, racial, or socioeconomic. Stoicism
posits that focusing on what we cannot
control is a destructive emotion, and that the
healthier, more productive strategy is to
focus on what we can control. And they’re
right. Wasting our mental energy on things we
can’t influence distracts our mind from
thoughts and action that can benefit us and
others.
THE POWER OF CONTROL

18. Jim Abbott was a remarkable athlete. As of 2014, there
have been 239 no-hitters in Major League Baseball
history. Jim Abbott was one of them. Yet, what makes this
no-hitter more unique than anything – and what makes
Jim’s athletic life more unique than anything else – is
that he was born with no right hand. It was a constraint
that made him focus on what he could control. And
despite his impediment, he not only succeeded, but
succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Jim abbott

19. Principle FOUR
“I HAVE BEEN AND STILL AM A SEEKER, BUT I HAVE
CEASED TO QUESTION STARS AND BOOKS; I HAVE
BEGUN TO LISTEN TO THE TEACHING My BLOOD
WHISPERS TO ME” – HERMANN HESSE
SELF-AWARENESS

20. SELF-AWARENESS IS A SENSE OF KNOWINg WHO YOU
ARE, WHAT YOU’RE DOING, AND HOW THIS ALL FITS
INTO THE COMPLICATED CHAOS OF YOUR LIFE.
Depending on our self-awareness, we adjust
how and where we improve our circumstances.
Based on our self-awareness, we apply a
narrative about what our lives are and how
we should go about it.
THE science OF self-awareness

21. D u r i n g h i s f i r s t s e a s o n i n t h e N F L w i t h t h e n e w yo r k g i a n t s , v i n c e
l o m b a r d i d i d n ’ t g e t t h e r e s p e c t f r o m h i s p l ay e r s t h at h e wa n t e d . H i s
p l ay e r s d i d n ’ t v i b e w i t h h i s aw k wa r d , h a r d e n e d c o a c h i n g s t y l e , a n d a s
h i s f i r s t y e a r p r o g r e s s e d , t h e t o l l wa s u n b e a r a b l e . B u t l o m b a r d i
l o o k e d i n s i d e h i m s e l f. H e a p p r o a c h e d t h e m o s t r e s p e c t e d p l ay e r s o n
t h e o f f e n s e , h at i n h a n d , t o s e e h o w h e c o u l d i m p r o v e a n d e a r n t h e i r
r e s p e c t. A n d s u r e e n o u g h , h e c h a n g e d . S o d i d t h e p l ay e r s . V i n c e
l o m b a r d i w o n f i v e n f l c h a m p i o n s h i p s , i n c l u d i n g t h e f i r s t t w o s u p e r
b o w l s . T h e s u p e r b o w l t r o p h y i s n a m e d i n h i s h o n o r .
VINCE LOMBARDI

22. Principle FIVE
“He who has a why to live for can bare almost
any how” – friedrich nietzche
The clarity of PURPOSE

23. THE CLARITY OF PURPOSE
It’s not about how much money you can make or how
many cars you can buy. It’s about focusing on a
higher purpose – something larger than yourself.
In positive psychology, more notably in Seligman’s
research, the good life, the pleasant life, and the
full life are all very much available options. But
the full life offers the most: it’s the life where you
have the pleasures, the engagement , the purpose,
and the mission. Focus on the goals that are bigger
than you, while also channeling your efforts closer
to a higher purpose, and you’ll reap the benefits.

24. Terry fox
Terry Fox – a young Canadian athlete – was diagnosed
with cancer, just when his collegiate athletic career
was starting to look up. When he was forced to amputate
his leg, Fox noticed the other children in the hospital.
Their suffering was something he would never forget.
Fox started a movement – the Marathon for Hope – to
raise $1 dollar for every Canadian in the country. After
his death, the results of his efforts soon exceeded
anything he would ever dream of - $650 million, while
also increasing cure rates for osteosarcoma by 80%.
Today, he is a celebrated hero in Canada.

25. Principle SIX
“great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half
their greatness goes unnoticed. It is all part of the fairy
tale.” - Peter s. beagle
STANDING ON THE
SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

26. Standing on the shoulders of giants
Standing on the shoulders of giants is about using
the stories of those around you to propel you even
further than you thought possible.
From the war-torn, snowy pastorals of the American
Revolution to the penniless, New Yorker arguments
of your grandparents, from big to small, thousands
of years to just now, all lives have been defined by
struggle. But to overcome that struggle, people
appreciated the adversity around them. People
appreciated the stories of those who had overcome
much greater odds. And they used these narratives
to fuel their own lives.

27. BILL BELICHICKB i l l b e l i c h i c k i s t h e h e a d c o a c h o f t h e n e w e n g l a n d pat r i o t s , a n d a
6 -t i m e s u p e r b o w l c h a m p i o n . W i t h a l l o f b e l i c h i c k ’ s s u c c e s s , h e
b e l i e v e s h e o w e s m u c h t o t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s p r o v i d e d t o h i m . H e
s ta n d s o n t h e s h o u l d e r s o f g i a n t s . F o r m a n y r e a s o n s : t h e f o r t i t u d e
o f h i s g r a n d pa r e n t s e m i g r at i n g t o t h e U . S . , t h e c o a c h e s , o w n e r s , a n d
p l ay e r s t h at d e v e l o p e d t h e g a m e o f f o o t b a l l i n t o t h e s p o r t i t i s
t o d ay, a n d t h e p e o p l e i n h i s t o r y w h o h av e a l l o w e d u s t o b e f r e e ,
s a f e , a n d pav e d t h e way f o r t h e p u r s u i t o f h a p p i n e s s . A n d m o s t o f
a l l , h i s fat h e r , s t e v e . T h i s b e l i e f p r o v i d e s t h e c o n t e x t a n d
b l u e p r i n t t o s u c c e e d , t h r o u g h m e n t o r s h i p, e f f o r t, a n d c h a r a c t e r .

28. Principle SEVEN
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree
and I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe” – Abraham
Lincoln
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE COOL

29. What it takes to be cool
Training is authority. As obvious as it may seem,
preparation is really at the center of doing anything
well. You prepare, you do well, you’re cool. You don’t
prepare, and it’s a disaster.
We can learn to be cool under adversity if we treat it
like we do a sporting event. If we treat adversity with
the right preparation, we give ourselves the
opportunity to better deal with it under pressure.
When we prepare, we can keep a cool head under
pressure because we’ve already tasted the pressure.

30. ARTHUR ASHE
Arthur Ashe carried himself the way he played tennis - with
serenity and grace. Whether he was facing tennis giants like Jimmy
Connors and Bjorn Borg in the 70’s or talking to inner-city youth,
his ability to be cool under pressure and even-keel was his
greatest and most crucial asset. For an African-American tennis
legend back in a time of great racial prejudice with the added
burden of HIV, Ashe’s coolness on and off the court was nothing
short of inspiring.

31. Principle EIGHT
“do not spoil what you have by desiring
what you have not; remember that what
you now have was once among the things
you only hoped for” - epicurus
FEELING LUCKY

32. The importance of feeling lucky
Appreciate the magnitude of your moment here on
Earth as an irrefutable byproduct of the
historical human response to adversity.
With perspective, we can remove ourselves from
snap judgments, from getting too high or too low
on ourselves, and become grateful for the work
put in before us. From your friends to your co-
workers, adversity touches everyone you know. As
much as you want to avoid it, better to meditate in
it’s wake rather than be held in it’s grip.

33. LOU GEHRIG“ Fa n s , f o r t h e pa s t t w o w e e k s yo u h av e b e e n r e a d i n g a b o u t t h e b a d b r e a k
I g o t. Y e t t o d ay I c o n s i d e r m y s e l f t h e l u c k i e s t m a n o n t h e fa c e o f t h i s
e a r t h . I h av e b e e n i n b a l l pa r k s f o r 1 7 y e a r s a n d h av e n e v e r r e c e i v e d
a n y t h i n g b u t k i n d n e s s a n d e n c o u r a g e m e n t f r o m yo u fa n s ”
- L o u G e h r i g , M L B p l ay e r , a f t e r b e i n g d i a g n o s e d w i t h A L S , a m u s c l e
d e g e n e r at i v e d i s e a s e

34. LEARN EXACTLY WHAT IT
TAKES TO TURN EVERY
PROBLEM, EVERY DIFFICULTY,
AND EVERY LOSS INTO ONE OF
YOUR GREATEST MOMENTS.
STOP LOSING.
START WINNING.
VISIT NICKDINARDO.COM
BUY THE BOOK TODAY.