Underlying all success is the resilience and mental toughness to overcome defeats, losses, problems, obstacles, mistakes, the critics, the naysayers, the pessimists, the complainers, and those who say it can’t be done.
Essentially, this is a characteristic of all great people. And you might say that it is essential not becoming a victim and not slide into the depths of learned helplessness. Instead, learn about the importance of resilience — a trait associated with a hardiness that you can develop.
By Murray Johannsen, Feel free to connect with the author via Linkedin or email.
Dare To Be Great
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” – Kennedy Family Motto
“Fall seven times and stand up eight”– Japanese Proverb
“Remember, anything worth doing, is going to be difficult.” — M. Johannsen, Advice to future entrepreneurs
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Well Said Resilience Definitions
“Suffer through defeat, but be never defeated.” — Murray Johannsen. Or, as Winston Churchill better said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given a chance to work through difficult problems.” – Gever Tulley
“To succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby
“Remember, anything worth doing is going to be difficult.” – M. Johannsen, Advice to future entrepreneurs
What is Resilience? Two Dictionary Definitions
You have seen the dictionary definition of something. It typically goes like this, “leadership is the act of leading, or management is all about managing.”
At Dictionary.com. “The power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity. The ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.”
The Cambridge Dictionary proposes the definition of “the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened: Trauma researchers emphasize the resilience of the human psyche. The ability of a substance to return to its usual shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed: The plant fiber has incredible strength and resilience.”
The Importance of Resilience
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” — Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President.
Background
Some think that all you need to know, all that must be learned is gained from listening to the lecture, can be captured by writing papers, is remembered by regurgitating knowledge by taking tests. After all, it’s the degree that counts. Indeed, some people pay a lot of money for them.
Reading books helps, immensely help, to reduce the one’s ignorance. But if reading books would make you stronger, librarians would be the greatest champions on the planet. I don’t imagine most of you have heard this, “Don’t mess with that librarian, she’ll kick your ass half way to the moon.”
Believe me, despite the fact that this individual received three degrees, none of his professors ever taught him the essence of success. None mentioned the importance of resilience and the mental processes one must develop to overcome challenge and adversity. You would think, that this would be something psychology programs and business schools might be interested in.
It is thought by some that today’s young are more spoiled and be less resilient than their parents and their grandparents (Kolbert, 2012).
Why the Success Driven Need to be Resilient
“My father once told me that I was too dumb to quit.” — Murray Johannsen
and this would be ultimately the secret of success. This does not mean being rigid in doing the same thing the same way, despite the fact that is no longer working. That is sometimes known as managerial insanity — something you frequently see in government and the corporate sector.
Some think that all you need to know, all that must be learned is gained from listening to the lecture, can be captured by writing papers, and is remembered by regurgitating knowledge by taking tests. After all, it’s the degree that counts. Indeed, some people pay a lot of money for them.
Reading books helps immensely helps, to reduce one’s ignorance. But if reading books would make you stronger, librarians would be the greatest champions on the planet. I don’t imagine most of you have heard this, “Don’t mess with that librarian; she’ll kick your posterior halfway to the moon.”
Even though this individual received three degrees, none of his professors ever taught him the essence of success. None mentioned the importance of resilience and the mental processes one must develop to overcome challenges and adversity. You would think this would be something psychology programs and business schools might be interested in.
Some think today’s young are more spoiled and less resilient than their parents and grandparents. (Listen to the Interview: Are American Kids Spoiled Rotten?)
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” — Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President
Understand that:
- Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have.
- It involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone.
That’s the good part. However, it does not mean that you can necessarily avoid suffering and mental anguish.
Generally speaking, cultivating resilience and resilience & mental toughness gives you a psychological edge in both good and bad. For example, one can cope better and perform better than opponents. In addition, one can be more determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.
Great women and great men understand the nature of resilience. A resilient leader overcomes bone-crushing defeat, a defeat that would break a lesser human being. This is the most important concept to study since everyone has problems that must be overcome. And rather than solving these challenges, they give up.
When bad things happen, they don’t jump into victim mode and do a “woe is me” routine that lasts for a week before one goes to the doctor for the magic pill that will disappear the psychological pain.
You must have a reasonable ability to control events. After all, it was given to Hercules 12 labors of immense difficulty, beyond the capacity of mere mortals, but he was capable of success. Sounds better than the 12 failures of Hercules.
Seven Characteristics of Resiliency
“I would have rather tried and failed at doing something than succeeded at doing nothing.” – M. Johannsen, Advice to future entrepreneurs
Resilience has been of great interest to sports psychologists and coaches as a key mental factor that discriminates between the job of victory and the agony of defeat. So it helps pierce the veil and see what is essential in this context. What occurs can be described as different abilities. These include (Jones, 2002):
- Ability to stay focused,
- Push physical/emotional pain boundaries while maintaining technique/effort
- An unshakable belief in self
- Achieve goals and succeed
- Resilience—the ability to bounce back from setbacks
- Thriving under pressure
- Push physical/emotional pain boundaries while maintaining technique/effort
On Site Resources
Related Pages
References on Resilience
Aggerholm, Kenneth (2014). Talent Development, Existential Philosophy, and Sport: On Becoming an Elite Athlete. Routledge
Bloom (1985). Developing talent in young people.
Côté (1999). The influence of the family in the development of talent in the sport.
Csikszentmihalyi et al., (1996). Talented teenagers: The roots of success and failure. Cambridge University Press.
Gould, D., Dieffenbach, K., & Moffett, A. (2002). Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14 (3), 172-204.
Jones, G., Hanton, S., &Connaughton, D. (2002). What is this thing called mental toughness? An investigation of elite sports performers, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14 (3), 205-218.
Kolbert, Elizabeth (2012). Spoiled Rotten, The New Yorker.
Lehrer, Jonah (2009). The Truth About Grit. Boston.com, August 2.
First Published on October 12, 2014. Updated: January 25, 2022.
Teitelbaum, Daniel (1998). Ultimate Guide to Mental Toughness: How to Raise Your Motivation, Focus, and Confidence Like Pushing a Button, Peak Performance Publications.
Learn How To Dial Down Stress
Learn about the importance of resilience — a trait one can develop. We all need the hardiness to overcome defeats, losses, problems, obstacles, mistakes, the critics, the naysayers, the pessimists, the complainers, and those who say it can’t be done.
Learning About Resilience
The Times article on mental toughness states, “To be mentally tough is to resist the urge to give up in the face of failure, to maintain focus and determination in pursuit of one’s goals, and to emerge from adversity even stronger than before.”
Doesn’t sound easy. But here is the exciting part of it, can it be taught? This article talks about a program run by Martin Seligmann out of the University of Pennsylvania. This story is an application of how one can toughen up the military, but the general principles apply to any organization.
One way to think about this is to view this as a set of mental processes that together allow one to overcome difficulties. Each can be enhanced, which is what the FULL CLASS online is about.
What Builds Resilience in Children?
There are other methods for children one can use. These include:
- Emotional Support
- Supporting and taking “moderate risks.”
- Developing self-awareness and self-control of:
- Negative emotions
- Control of catastrophizing
- Expect mistakes — learn from them
This article is a little different. It takes a parent’s view and then asks what might one do to build resilience in a child. The author also provides a list of associated skills, none of which are that easy to teach. For example, being in control of one’s emotions is something most adults can’t do. Still, the best advice is for parents who have children competing in sports.
A Guide To Developing Resilience
This American Psychological Association Guide to resilience has different sections. “Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone.” That’s the good part. However, it does not mean that you can necessarily avoid suffering and mental anguish.
Like many states of mind, this can be enhanced through personal action. You will find a ten-point checklist that you can use to assess whether you are getting through the tough times.
This definition is different; it provides a list of characteristics so that you can check off to see if you are a wimp or not. But, you will find many environmental facts that help you get through difficult times.
It’s true, “Modern science builds the case for an old-fashioned virtue – and uncovers new secrets to success.”
Take a story you no doubt heard when you were a child — that of an apple falling on Isaac Newton’s head. In that instant, he discovered a mathematical basis for gravity.
However, it most likely didn’t happen that way; Newton also had an astonishing ability to persist in facing obstacles and uncover a stubborn mystery. So what can you learn from this story? The virtue of persistence and grit.
How to Recover From Failure
This article presents 12 short cases of methods others have used to recover. There is bound to be one that you might try when (heaven forbid) something goes wrong.
It is inherent in leadership that one is bound to fail. One hopes that this is not a “fatal” one. The important question to ask ourselves is not how to avoid failure but how we can recover from failure after it happens.
So we become a victim-alternating between the states of helplessness and hopelessness? Do we look for a savior, a handsome prince, or a fairy princess who will take the misery away? Or do we instead rise from the ashes, like a phoenix, and go on and prosper from the train wreck.
How Can I Help My Child Be Mentally Tough?
This article is a little different. It takes the view of a parent and then asks what might one do to install mental toughness in a child. The author also provides a list of associated skills, none of which are that easy to teach. For example, being in control of one’s emotions is something most adults can’t do. Still, the best advice is for parents who have children competing in sports.