How to survive while your nightmare vanishes in 4 clear steps

There is no euphoria quite like the moment your nightmare ends.

But first comes the waiting.

The question is how you survive until release arrives.

I have lived through at least five extreme nightmares.

Five avalanches that came my way.

Five, I once believed I would not survive.

• Three were health-related.
• One was family-related.
• One was money-related.

So let me share one of them here.

Surviving the nightmare

I passed the ski resort on the way back from the restaurant.

Then the call came.

The worst news you can imagine on a holiday.

The majority partner says, “I am closing the office. Moving to Houston. You are on your own.”

That was December 1987.

It was right after I borrowed the maximum amount to buy and remodel a home in University Park, Texas.

Then the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 22 percent of its value in a single day.

Not long after the ski trip, my soon-to-be-former partner drove with me through my neighborhood.

He looked at my house and said, “Nice place. I hope you can keep it.”

That’s when I started my financial planning business.

• Essentially fired
• On my own
• In debt
• No salary
• Young family
• Riddled with anxiety

It felt like being trapped in an avalanche.

Experts say to survive, you must…

• remain calm
• release nonessentials
• swim backward
• dig around your face

Of course, this advice is usually taught in climate-controlled rooms.

So here are my four favorite lessons for surviving in the middle of chaos.

Remain calm

Just be calm. Right? Reminds me of Jesus’ words.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.” John 14:27

There has to be a powerful reason to believe someone who says, “Don’t be afraid.”

Early in my life, I willingly thrust my whole being into this person, Jesus. 

My faith stabilizes my heart and mind so that I can think clearly in an avalanche.

Check out the number of times Jesus spoke “Do not be afraid” in the gospels. 

I know his presence is always with me, and his presence stabilizes me.

Release nonessentials

Drop nonessentials. 

In life and in business, separate the vital from the trivial.

As Greg McKeown said in his New York Times bestseller Essentialism, “The overwhelming reality is we live in a world where almost everything is worthless and a very few things are exceptionally valuable.”

What is valuable?

• Faith
• Family
• Friendships

Swim backward

Ironically, this is your best chance to survive an avalanche.

Keeping your face toward the surface gives you a better chance to breathe. The swim backward motion lifts your face to the surface.

In life, this principle is simple.

Respond. Don’t react.

No matter how catastrophic the moment feels, the great reward lies in choosing a response over a reaction.

So instead of hunkering down for a guaranteed salary, I began 1988 by launching my business through free-speaking forums discovered while scouring the newspaper.

One person who heard me led to a nationally syndicated radio program with featured newspaper columns across the USA.

So lean into the catastrophe.

Face it squarely.

Attack it creatively.

Then watch the next step appear.

Dig around your face

Adding clarity to a catastrophic moment is like digging around your face in an avalanche.

It’s a stabilizing mechanism for profound simplicity.

That is when you slow down and focus on what is truly needed.

Dig around your face. Make room to breathe.

It’s the same idea as a pro tennis player bouncing the ball slowly before a serve. Rafael Nadal bounces the ball about 12 to 20 times before a first serve.

Attitude is critical for centering yourself in a crisis.

In the end, it’s not so much what happens to us as what happens in us that counts.

Survival toolkit

Your survival toolkit has earned you the title of the greatest survivor.

• Stay calm
• Release nonessentials
• Respond and don’t react
• Embrace profound simplicity

How do you survive an avalanche?