With Great Adversity Comes Great Opportunity

Dr. Elizabeth Kostal is a force of nature. As the result of a radical reconstructive heart surgery decades ago (during which her body temperature dropped to 62 degrees Fahrenheit and she had zero brain activity for 17 minutes), the sinoatrial node in her heart was destroyed. What this means is that without a pacemaker, her blood pressure wouldn’t be able to adjust normally to things like standing up, walking, or really anything physical. 

You might think that Elizabeth would live a cautious life, afraid to push herself too hard for fear of what could happen. Not a chance. Instead, she has decided to climb Everest. When she succeeds, Elizabeth will be the first person with a pacemaker to climb the mountain. Not only will she achieve a tremendous personal accomplishment, but she will also generate invaluable scientific data that can be used to help other people with pacemakers partake in physical challenges. 

Though Elizabeth’s story is an extreme case, how she chooses to handle her adversity can be instructive for any challenge – big or small – that you might be facing.

Try it yourself: 

• Look at pain points as your guiding light. We all have experiences – either positive or negative – from our past that have shaped us into the people we are today. For Elizabeth, a big part of her story is that she became a doctor in an effort to better understand her own condition. Making it personal has given her a different level of commitment than most other people in the working world. Is there something from your past that has been pointing you in a particular direction? Have you listened to it? 

• Respect your threshold. If you are a climber, you know that you don’t summit 100% of the mountains you attempt. During our conversation, Elizabeth had recently returned from Ecuador where her climb didn’t go as planned. While on the mountain, she forced herself to consider the bigger picture. Did she want to summit the mountain in Ecuador on the first try, or would she rather take the data back to the team and make adjustments so she could have a successful climb when it came time for Everest? I did a very similar thing when I first attempted K2. My emotional mind was screaming at me to keep going, but my rational mind asked me to consider how many red lights I had already blown through. Reframe failure as data collection. The next time you attempt your goal, you’ll be coming at it from a place of much more knowledge. 

Imagine how your goals help others. Elizabeth mentioned that she would have loved to call someone and ask what their pacemaker settings were when they climbed Everest. She can’t because that person doesn’t exist right now; it has never been done. No matter how hard things get or how tired her mind and body become, Elizabeth knows that she is helping so many people by pursuing this goal herself. How would accomplishing your own dreams inspire or inform others? Maybe you aspire to earn an advanced degree. Do it not only because it’ll make you proud of yourself, but also so you can add to the base of research in your field. Perhaps you have set a goal to run a 5K race. Can you ask family members to train with you? Is there an opportunity to raise money for charity? Making your goal bigger than yourself will help you to keep pushing when things get tough.