5 years ago I watched a movie directed by Kim Ki-duk. The name of the movie was Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring. The movie really moved me but I keep realizing the meaning again and again as I go through the different seasons of life.

In life we go through good periods that everything can look great, the sun is shining and we are full of energy of creation. These periods are like the spring, when all the trees are blooming, but we also go through bad periods, that everything can seem like it is not working and all our creativity is completely drained. These periods are like Beijing winter: cold, strong winds and all the trees are completely naked and have no leaves.

Life showed me that setbacks (Winter times) are at least as important as success (Spring). I have gone through several setbacks in my life as a Student, Soldier, Employee and an Entrepreneur. They all shaped my character much more than the success that followed.

There are several patterns that helped me overcome the winter times in the past

Accept the winter and stop resistance

I have learned that if I struggle to change the winter and force it to become Spring, it usually never works. In winter times it is better to slow down, accept it and relax. The ability to bloom is limited. We can do some sport, meditation or any other activity that can help to relax.

Use the time to think, and prepare for the spring

Set backs are usually created for a reason. Something in what we did in the past was wrong, our planning did not fit reality or life was more powerful than us. If we use the time to relax and analyze what we did wrong, or what has changed. Only then can we take responsibility and realize how to make it better in the future. This is a good way to enable spring to come.

During my time in orange, I had a major setback. I was in charge of retention – how to prevent orange customers from leaving the company. Due to several reasons that I was not aware of at the time, the churn rate went up sharply, and the company profitability was at major risk. All the focus in the company was aimed at me and I was devastated. I could not see the light in the end of the tunnel. This was one of the most difficult periods of my life. I could not sleep and completely lost my self esteem. After a while I realized that I need to do something different. I had to change. To solve the problem and overcome the crisis, we have built 5 internal thinking groups that suggested the company a new policy. We have identified our problems and fixed them. The result was significant drop in churn rate and a spring time has arrived. Without the 3 months that we used to understand and research our problems we would not have reached it.

Find the time to enjoy leisure activity

The winter is the best time to think of things that can make you feel better. For me, Thailand always works. I go to Thailand and suddenly the smile comes back to my face. If we know what makes us happy, we can just do it, and the winter will look so much better.

Realize that sometimes the reality did not change; it is only the glasses we use to view reality

During winter times the same reality that few months looked promising, suddenly becomes horrible. We should understand that it is only the glasses that changed and maintain our positive energies.

Start to dream

A change will always start from our imagination. Winter is a great time to dream of new things we want to achieve or do. It is not the time to do it, or even plan it. But it is a great time to dream. Maybe you want to join Chinese class, maybe you want to become a journalist or travel to Bali, or become the US president. There is no limit to our dreams. We can play with our mind and imagine things. This can lead in the spring time to action.