Sam Cawthorn's near-death experience transformed his life, now he teaches others to do the same

SAM Cawthorn survived this shocking accident. But it is what he did next that will truly inspire you.

Sam Cawthorn's near-death experience transformed his life.

THERE was a loud bang. The next thing Sam Cawthorn remembers is the looks on the faces of people hovering around his broken body, lying in the middle of the road.
"Their eyes were taking in my crumbled leg and my arm that was smashed to pieces and their faces said: 'This guy's not going to make it'," he said.

Mr Cawthorn had fallen asleep at the wheel before crashing into a semi-trailer in a combined speed of 206km/h.

He was pronounced clinically dead by paramedics for three minutes. Hours later, Mr Cawthorn said he woke on life support in a Tasmanian hospital room.

"I suddenly realised that I was alive. If things had turned out differently, I could have been jelly," he said.

The doctors said they were amazed by Mr Cawthorn's recovery.

"They described it as a miracle. And that got me wondering about the difference in psychology between someone who survives a crisis like that and someone who does not," he said.

Amazingly, Sam Cawthorn survived this car crash.

The difference, as it turns out, was an ability to tap into the positive - and rather than dwell in the crisis, embrace whatever happens to you as an opportunity for growth, Mr Cawthorn said.

"It's our decision, not our condition that determines our happiness and success in life," he said.

As his body began the gruelling road to recovery, Mr Cawthorn began to think that he could apply these same lessons to life in the business world.

That may seems a surprising assertion from a man living with a prosthetic arm and chronic phantom pain - but then, that's all part of his philosophy.

"Everyone has a crisis, it doesn't matter what or how it occurs, but there is a formula for overcoming it," he said.

"Before the accident I was a very motivated person, but I had no real direction. Now I see everything differently. I am more grateful for everything and I focus on going forward," he said.

This is Mr Cawthorn's advice:

• Connect to your 'why': Spend time figuring out why you're doing what you're doing with your life. Most people spend more time planning a holiday than they do their lives.
• Be strategic: Seek to maximise every opportunity, no matter how obscure or unlikely.

• Take stock of your relationships: In other words, the people with whom we spend most of our time have the biggest influence on our lives. Associate with people who are positive and you will reap the rewards.

• Leverage happiness: Deciding to be happy is a conscious choice, one that you have to make every single day. No matter what happens, make the most of the situation.

• Focus on 'bouncing forward': Don't look back and try and be someone you used to be, always look to the future. "Looking back on my own experience, I still would not change what happened to me. I am a better version of me because of it," he said.

The incredible life lessons that emerged from Sam's extraordinary experience have been documented in his new book 'Bounce Forward: How to Transform Crisis into Success'.
Purchase a copy or to find out more on Sam Cawthorn.

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