Developing Resilience: Overcoming Life's Challenges

Life has a funny way of testing our resilience - but in the end, this ability to adapt can be one of the most important qualities we possess.


Our challenges don't stop when we enter college. Most of us face difficult times at work, in relationships, and even when we travel or try new things. This is where your ability to adapt and overcome comes into play. In this post I'll share what I've learned about building resilience.

I'll be sharing practical advice on:

How to handle negative emotions

How to deal with setbacks

How to get back on track after a slump

How to maintain your resilience

STEP 1: Understand the Emotional Side of Failure

We all fail sometimes. Everyone does. But for some of us, failure happens more often and more severely than others. And in those cases, the feeling of failure is real.

When this happens, it's natural to feel disappointed, embarrassed, or angry. There's also a possibility that you feel discouraged, hopeless, or depressed. None of these feelings are helpful when you're trying to adapt and overcome.

If you're feeling defeated, you're more likely to stop trying. When you feel ashamed or hurt, you tend to avoid situations that can make you look bad or that might result in rejection. And when you're discouraged, you're more likely to quit when facing a challenge.

In order to successfully adapt and overcome, it's important to learn how to manage negative emotions effectively. It's much easier to build resilience when you can manage your negative emotions appropriately.

STEP 2: Take Responsibility for Your Success

It's natural to blame external factors for the problems in our lives - whether it's your boss, your boss's boss, or even your government. We all feel powerless at times, so it's easy to blame someone else.

But life doesn't always work that way. Many times we're responsible for our own successes as well as our failures.

While we can never take all the credit or responsibility for every success and failure in our lives, there are plenty of things we can do to improve our odds.

STEP 3: Create a Vision for Yourself

It's easier to move forward when you know where you want to go. I find the vision boards that Pinterest makes popular to be helpful for creating a clear idea of who you want to be, what you want to accomplish, and how you want to live.

I created my own vision board to help me stay motivated as I pursued my career and began freelancing. As a writer, I knew that I wanted to travel, publish books, and help people through my writing. So I created a vision board to remind me of the life I wanted to live and the goals I wanted to achieve.

I'm still working on my vision board and I use it daily to help me stay focused on my goals.

STEP 4: Take Action

Once you have a vision for yourself, it's time to start taking action towards achieving that vision.