Do the Next Right Thing: Surviving Life's Crises

Frank O’Dea is no stranger to overcoming crisis. He was a victim of abuse as a teenager and at twenty-four, a homeless alcoholic. But he was able to turn his life around and become a successful businessman while creating a family. Now he’s sharing the lessons he’s learned, offering guidelines that anyone can follow to help him or her through crises.

Most people believe that a crisis descends suddenly and unexpectedly. In fact, they tend to build right in front of our eyes. But the emotional impact makes taking even the smallest step difficult, when a big leap is often needed. Here are proven techniques for dealing with any crisis, which O’Dea argues is just another term for change. Understanding that a crisis need not affect your happiness, that it is not necessarily a change for the worse, makes us already better equipped to handle it. The crisis is a curve in the road, not a dead end.

Frank O’Dea is an entrepreneur and founding partner of the Second Cup coffee chain and several other successful businesses. He is a philanthropist, a sought-after public speaker, and the author of When All You Have Is Hope. O’Dea lives in Ottawa with his family.