“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” -Thomas Edison
It has been said that Thomas Edison made thousands of incandescent bulbs before he finally got it right. He was awarded more than 1000 patents for his inventions, yet those were just the inventions that worked. Imagine all the times his inventions didn’t work. If he had to try thousands of times to get a working incandescent light bulb, I wonder how many times he had to try to get the other inventions right.
Edison’s inventions, even—no, especially—the ones that didn't work, were an exercise in resilience. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, resilience is defined as “An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” Resilience is the ability to adjust to change, whether it is good or bad. Edison apparently had a great deal of resilience, but the rest of us could benefit from at least a healthy dose of it.
Resilience is about adapting. The minute you decide to adapt to change, you start creating a mindset of resilience that will propel you forward through anything. I strengthen my resilience by choosing not to see stress or misfortune in a situation; instead, I see change, a change that needs to be dealt with. In these moments, I ask myself, “What am I going to do about it?”
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Unfortunately, being able to adapt to change is easier said than done. It takes practice. Through a lot of trial and error, I’ve learned how to boost my resilience, and it’s allowed me to cope and deal with whatever life throws at me, one step at a time. The process I use to create a mindset of resilience is as follows:
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- Be positive. Being able to see things in a positive way is about as forward-looking as you can get. Look past the current situation, however bad it may be, in order to see a positive outcome. If we maintain a positive outlook and envision awesome days ahead, things won’t look so bad anymore. When you envision the future you want, you’re better able to deal with the issues you are facing today.
- Don’t be a victim. All too often, we blame others for bad situations we get into. Unless you’ve been wrongly accused and thrown into jail, chances are you are just as much to blame for your current situation than whomever you’re trying to blame. There is always something we can do to control the outcome of most situations, and blaming someone else won’t solve your problems. My dad used to say, “You can’t control the rain, but you can control if you get wet or not.” Don’t be a victim. Take ownership of your life.
- Build your self-confidence. Smart, successful people have three basic beliefs: I am successful; I choose to succeed; and I will succeed. Everyone is capable of having and acting on these same beliefs. We can all be successful. We must first create the mindset of success, and then work hard to achieve it and envision our triumph.
- Develop strong relationships. Remember, life is hard enough, so don’t do it alone. Strengthen your resilience by building a strong network of real relationships you can rely on.
- This one is simple, really: The stronger you are—physically and emotionally—the easier it is for you to overcome challenges. Continuously build your strength.
A big misconception is that you need to be tough in order to be resilient, but I don’t believe that. You can be resilient and still show emotions, right? We just finished agreeing that Edison, with all his inventions, had a great deal of resilience. But in order to work so tirelessly on the many utility inventions he made, Edison also had to care a lot about improving the quality of life for those around him. In my own experience, some of the most resilient people I know show lots of empathy and care.
So don’t worry about being tough enough or strong enough for the task. Start building a mindset of resilience, and you’ll be surprised at how strong you begin to feel.
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