Resiliency That Transforms Your Setbacks

Find the strength to keep going. No matter how it looks, no matter how it seems, no matter what, you keep going. American inventor Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

According to legend, Thomas Edison made thousands of prototypes of the incandescent light bulb before he finally got it right. And, since the prolific inventor was awarded more than 1,000 patents, it's easy to imagine him failing on a daily basis in his lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

In spite of struggling with "failure" throughout his entire working life, Edison never let it get the best of him. All of these "failures," which are reported to be in the tens of thousands, simply showed him how not to invent something. His resilience gave the world some of the most amazing inventions of the early 20th century, such as the phonograph, the telegraph, and the motion picture.

It's hard to imagine what our world would be like if Edison had given up after his first few failures. His inspiring story forces us to look at our own lives – do we have the resilience that we need to overcome our challenges? Or do we let our failures derail our dreams? And what could we accomplish if we had the strength not to give up?

Resilience (or resiliency) is our ability to adapt and bounce back when things don't go as planned. Resilient people don't wallow or dwell on failures; they acknowledge the situation, learn from their mistakes, and then move forward…No matter how it looks, no matter how it seems, no matter what!

According to the research of leading psychologist, Susan Kobasa, there are three elements that are essential to resilience: Challenge, Commitment and Personal Control. Let’s briefly break that down.

1 Challenge – Resilient people view a difficulty as a challenge, not as a paralyzing event. They look at their failures and mistakes as lessons to be learned from, and as opportunities for growth. They don't view them as a negative reflection on their abilities or self-worth.

2 Commitment – Resilient people are committed to their lives and their goals, and they have a compelling reason to get out of bed in the morning. Commitment isn't restricted to their work – they commit to their relationships, their friendships, the causes they care about, and their religious or spiritual beliefs.