Motivation is unreliable. It comes in waves—fleeting, emotional, unpredictable. But momentum? Momentum is a choice. It's tempting to wait until you're inspired to act — to begin that project, make that call, or step into the unknown. But the truth is, progress usually starts without the spark. Action precedes energy. Momentum builds not through willpower but through repetition.

We all avoid something. The conversation. The truth. The decision. The next move. We tell ourselves it’s not the right time, that we’re protecting someone, or ourselves. That the discomfort of silence is safer than the clarity of confrontation. But avoidance doesn’t shrink the problem. It feeds it.

Why the hardest road often leads to the best results. Most companies (and people) do everything they can to avoid adversity. They plan for smooth sailing, optimize for efficiency, and try to minimize disruptions. But the real winners—the organizations that last, the leaders who thrive, the teams that outperform—aren’t the ones that dodge adversity. They’re the ones who learn how to use it.

What athletes know about resilience that the rest of us don’t. In sports, everyone plays hurt at some point. The game doesn’t stop because you’re sore. Great athletes don’t wait until everything is perfect. They adjust. They push through. They know the difference between pain that leads to injury and pain that just makes them stronger.

The ones who thrive aren’t the ones who complain. They’re the ones who adapt. Every industry, every business, every individual will eventually face this moment—the moment when the game they’ve been playing suddenly changes.

The world of business and nonprofit organizations is no stranger to adversity. Leaders in both sectors continually adapt to market fluctuations, funding challenges, and shifting consumer and donor behaviors. However, the current economic landscape presents an especially complex set of unknowns, fueled by trade uncertainties, rising tariffs, and the looming threat of reductions in federal funding. For many, the question isn’t just how to grow—it’s how to survive.

Few companies in the digital era have faced adversity with as much strategic foresight as Adobe. For years, the company dominated the creative software industry with products like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. But as the landscape shifted—fueled by technological advancements, changing customer expectations, and the rise of cloud computing—Adobe found itself at a crossroads.

Adversity has a way of reshaping us, often in ways we least expect. It shatters the familiar, forces us out of our comfort zones, and pushes us to either retreat in fear or innovate in response. In The Box: How the Gift of Adversity Shapes Growth, Innovation, and Transformation, we explore the profound role adversity plays in breaking the constraints of our self-imposed limitations, allowing us to reimagine possibilities beyond our perceived boundaries.

Coming Spring of 2025! Adversity is often seen as an obstacle—a force that disrupts, limits, and constrains. But what if it’s actually a gift? What if, instead of resisting adversity, we learned to harness it as a powerful tool for personal and professional transformation? This is the bold premise of The Box: How the Gift of Adversity Shapes Growth, Innovation, and Transformation, the latest book by entrepreneur and thought leader Dr. William D. Gibson, set for release in Spring 2025.