Nick Vujicic was born with phocomelia, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of legs and arms. He coped with merciless bullying and severe depression throughout his childhood. In a 2012 TedX talk, he discusses trying to drown himself in a bathtub at the age of 10. Wanting to spare his parents from the pain of knowing their son gave up on life, he aborts his suicide attempt.
But massive walls continue to surround him in every direction. He worries he’ll never have a job, or girlfriend, or friends, or a life worth living. And if somehow he does manage to find a wife and start a family, he’ll never be able to hold his child.
You probably can’t relate to Nick’s experience as a man without limbs.
But chances are, you’re struggling with similar, limiting beliefs. About your hair? Seriously?! No, I’m kidding, I’ve been there too.
“In life you have a choice: Bitter or Better? Choose better, forget bitter.”
― Nick Vujicic
I think Nick is right. So let’s get superficial and change the subject to hair loss. We can get bitter, pissed off, or depressed about it. Or, we can get better. We can use hair loss as an opportunity to improve ourselves in every way: mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
We can hit the gym harder, read instead of wasting time on social media, enlighten ourselves, and focus on becoming successful in all phases of our lives. If you’re still consumed with doubts and worries, you can fake it until you make it.
Nick eventually overcomes his insecurities and reaches a place of self-acceptance. He learns to love himself. And he comes to realize that ultimately, his own mind had been his greatest disability — not his lack of arms or legs. He goes onto inspire millions of people around the world with his motivational speeches, best-selling books, and music videos.
He’s losing his hair, also. But he’s winning in life. He’s got a beautiful wife, two sons, wealth, fame, and perhaps most significantly, a huge platform to make a positive difference in the world. There’s no reason you can’t overcome this obstacle and become a better version of yourself.
“The challenges in our lives are there to STRENGTHEN our CONVICTIONS. They are NOT there to run us over.”
― Nick Vujicic
Don’t let pattern hair loss run you over. It affects at least 70% of men and about 40% of women too. You’re in the majority, not the minority. You can turn your perceived “flaw” into an asset and use it as a springboard to tackle your other demons and insecurities.
Oh, and more thing. Nick is an evangelical minister also. So yeah, he advocates not watching “adult” movies, along with abstinence until marriage. You can go ahead and skip those bits of advice unless you’re into that kind of thing. But the rest of the speech is very inspiring. Check it out:
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.