Dare To Be Resilient

Why sugarcoat it — to say that 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us would be an understatement. All of us have faced unexpected adversities and disappointments in the past few months.

But here’s the thing: we are a highly adaptable species. Our ability to rebound from setbacks and keep moving forward is what we humans are known for. Fortunately, resilience is something you can build up though small steps that have a big impact.

In theory, we know that failing is a key part of life, but when we are in the middle of a tough time, we can lose sight of this truth. To really understand this message, it would help to make it concrete and think about the positive results of your past mistakes or setbacks. Doing this will build up your resilience and make it easier for you to bounce back from failures in the future.

“Grief and resilience live together” — Michelle Obama, Becoming

Resilience isn’t only key to maintaining stability, but it’s also key to creating success.

Even more than talent, resiliency is shared by the world’s most successful people. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team before becoming one of the greatest players of all time.

People who possess a “growth mindset” think of difficult times as a learning process, in which they can improve their abilities. People with a “fixed mindset” believe they are stuck with the abilities they already have, and no amount of practice will help this.

Thomas Edison conducted thousands of failed experiments before he invented the lightbulb.

Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson discovered that for a person to “flourish”, or have high levels of mental well-being, they need to experience about three positive emotions to neutralize just one negative emotion.

This means you cannot be slightly more positive than negative — you really have to tilt the tables.

Walt Disney was once fired by his newspaper editor for his supposed lack of imagination and good ideas.

What’s really important is that you shouldn’t let a few bumps discourage you from your dreams. Adversity is just an inevitable part of your journey to success. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and keep going. It is a key determinant of success.