Your skills, talent, and education alone do not guarantee your success. You can make the most of your strengths and increase your chances of achieving what you want when you are resilient, persistent, and gritty.
Think about five very successful people you know. Maybe they are not exceptionally talented; however, they knew enough to get things done and persisted. Resilience and grit can be part of your journey to success.
Try these techniques to increase your resilience and grit:
1. Stay in contact with others. When times are tough, crawling into a hole and being by yourself is natural. However, you increase your ability to bounce back with a support system. Give up the idea that strong people take on the world by themselves. You’re stronger when you have help and support. Maintain your healthy relationships.
2. Have high hopes. Standing strong when facing challenges is easier when you expect things to improve. Consider every bad time in your life. Did things get better every single time? When you know better times are ahead, grit and resilience are easier to access. Focus on a positive outcome.
3. Know that the most successful people have high resilience. The most successful people were willing to take on challenges that the average person would avoid.
4. Take excellent care of yourself. No matter what happens in your life, you still need food, rest, love, exercise, and fun. Take good care of yourself and you’ll be in a better position to weather challenges. Build your ability to bounce back when things are going well. And when facing challenges take care of yourself. Most people ignore their needs during difficult times, but ignoring your needs is not a successful strategy.
5. Be active, not passive. It’s easier to persist when you’re doing something to make progress. Rather than passively waiting for things to get better, take steps to improve the situation. If there is something constructive you can do, take action.
6. Give yourself mental breaks. No matter how resilient you may be, take regular breaks to recharge your batteries. What is your favorite way to take a mental break? You could watch a movie, read a book, or go for a walk with a friend.
7. Remind yourself of all the adversity you’ve overcome since childhood. No one’s life is smooth sailing 100% of the time. You have already overcome many obstacles. Remind yourself of your past successes during challenging times. You’ll have the strength and motivation to continue.
8. Live a life that revolves around your interests. If you have a job you hate, it’s hard to have a lot of grit and resilience left at the end of your day. It’s much easier to have perseverance while doing something you love. Find hobbies that you love. The need for grit is much lower!
9. Hang with resilient people. You build your resilience when the people around you are optimistic and resilient. Choose your friends wisely. You can become a stronger person if you hang out with strong people. Find some people that have the resilience you want to have.
What could you do with your life if you were more resilient and grittier? You’d be unflappable! Build resilience and grit into your life and enjoy your best life. I have a free resource available to help you dive deeper into this topic and increase your ability to bounce back from challenges, request your copy of the 7-Day Resilience Checklist for Lawyers, 8 Steps to Boost Your Bounce-Back Ability.