Choose your attitude and take control – with Josh Komen
Choice. We all have the power to consciously choose our attitude and how we approach adversity. But, just like learning how to breathe properly, we sometimes need guidance to help us find the courage to move forward and grab opportunities when they emerge, especially in tough times.
Athlete and cancer survivor Josh Komen has intimate experience of how great learnings and unknown opportunities can emanate from hardship. At 23 years old, he went from being one of New Zealand’s fastest runners to one of the sickest. His ten-year fight for survival following his diagnosis, not once but twice, with acute myeloid leukemia has equipped him with valuable insights into the human condition and tools to succeed when confronted with adversity - how to find comfort in the discomfort.
If you’ve ever faced challenges, personal or professional, and wondered how to approach them, don’t miss Josh’s inspirational keynote session at our 2025 ACE New Zealand SME Summit this May in Auckland where he’ll share his personal story and teach you how to take control. We asked Josh how he'll encourage the audience to take action.
You focus on the language we use. Why is this important?
"The acronyms I use originate from sharing stories and gaining perspectives, which creates an awareness of valuable skills that help us to deal with whatever is thrown our way. For example, ABC stands for:
- Attitude: We can all choose our attitude and any business, small or large, also has this choice. When things are tough or going wrong, we can see more clearly, including any opportunities, if we open the aperture – broaden the field of view.
- Belonging: We often feel alone when things don’t go right. But by sharing stories and experiences through conversations, we establish connections and belonging and gain perspective. We become more courageous, confident and consistent in what we’re doing, and we’re no longer alone.
- Communication: This is the language we speak to ourselves and others."
You prefer the word perseverance rather than resilience. Why?
"The Greek equivalent of resilience means to rebound or bounce back. But, when faced with adversity, you really want to bounce forward and continue to persevere.
"Reading about Viktor Frankl’s perspective (Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher and Holocaust survivor) in his book Man’s Search for Meaning changed my life. Frankl took years to escape the concentration camps and create a more meaningful life. I thought if he could do it, why couldn’t I? Applying it to my own life meant I had to learn to be patient, persistent and consistent with turning up to my cancer treatments and returning home to rest. Perseverance is created through persistence.
"The cliche ‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel’ is there for a reason. When you persevere, things change for the better. I nearly gave up numerous times, but my life today is so much more enriched than it was prior to my diagnoses when I could have represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games. I’ve gained so much from persevering, including wisdom."
You also use the acronym PPPP. What does this mean?
"PPPP stands for changing perspective, creating patience, and being persistent with your actions, which, as mentioned, produces perseverance. It’s about gaining perspective – choosing the attitude to go forward with.
"This is challenging in our instant gratification society. Life's not getting any faster, there’s just more stimulus and our intuitive awareness is being taken away. We’ve become so disconnected from reality and reliant on technology for guidance that we’re losing our connection and forgetting our intuition and instinct. But it’s still there. We just need to take our time, disconnect for a bit so that we can connect with ourselves and others to find that encouragement to be courageous, and then we can choose our attitude, and so forth. We can keep moving forward. Frankl talks about it this way too.
"Once we do this, we can recognise and gravitate towards opportunities that arise, and these may be completely different to what we anticipated. I threw away opportunities when I was disconnected but, once I became more grounded, I had the courage to grab them.
"I have a favourite Winston Churchill quote: ‘Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.’"
These skills apply to our personal and working lives, making them even more valuable. How will you inspire the audience to embrace them?
"I’ll teach the audience how to be comfortable being uncomfortable by sharing my story and the tools that helped me through my journey so that they can confront life’s challenges successfully.
"I’ll share how I chose my attitude and encourage the audience to reflect on the attitude they chose when faced with adversity, personally or professionally, and whether they benefitted from their choice. You needn't go through cancer to gain these perspectives and understanding.
"Frankl says that when everything seems to be taken away, the last of the freedoms we have is the ability to choose our own attitude to perceive our situation. We all have this conscious choice in our power."