How To Overcome Adversity and Build Resilience
One of the greatest human capabilities is our ability to transform set backs, defeats and failures into transformational breakthroughs.
Research shows time and time again that even people who have low IQ’s but possess the ability to overcome adversity and have resilience will go on to lead far more successful lives than those who just possess a high IQ.
Life is going to be filled with disappointments and set backs and we need to arm our selves with a set of strategies and tools that will assist us in bouncing forward so that we can go on to be the person we have always wanted to be.
The research also shows that it isn’t the adversity or the experience that causes us to feel how we do about our disappointments and frustrations. Those feelings relate directly back to the meaning or the beliefs that we have about that situation , adversity or experience.
The meanings that we have attached to situations that have occurred in our life are either useful OR completely useless. We have meanings that we have attached to situations or memories from our past that have not served us well and in instances, have stopped us from being who we are truly capable of being.
What memories, events or experiences from your past have not served you well and when you are reminded of them, they bring back negative emotions and feelings of anger, sadness, fear, frustration or disappointment.
All meaning is context dependent and nothing has any meaning except for the meaning that we give it so we are completely empowered to re-interpret the meanings that we have attached to situations, events and experiences that have not served us well and as a result, change how we feel about those memories.
Negative emotions are like breaks on a car. They stop us from moving forward and achieving our hopes and dreams. Negative emotions also resonate in our body long after the event has passed and so it would serve us well to redefine and re interpret the events that have not served us well and to do it quickly so that we don’t carry the negative baggage of those experiences with us throughout our life.
Decide to move forward today and let it go.