Achieving the big goals requires a combination of hard work, knowledge and persistence. Having resilience is the most important factor is maintaining the persistence needed to achieve your goals. When things go off course it is your resilience that will help you to bounce back and get on track again. Some people think resilience is something people are born with. It is true that some people are naturally more resilient than others and there are ways to learn to become more resilient. Listed are five ways that can help you build your resilience:
1. Understand and write down your why for setting the goal in the first place. There will times when you question your decision to reach for a certain goal. With longer term goals, the more likely you will experience this. If you begin to question your willingness to continue, knowing your why will help motivate you to continue. Having something in a physical form can help remind you of your goal. It could be a written document or a picture.
2. Take care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. Resilient people do not burnout. By taking time away from your work helps you gain perspective and gives you much needed mental and physical rest.
3. Arrange to have a “think buddy.” There will be times when you need to “think out loud” with someone else and get another perspective on what is happening and possible next steps. Having one or more “buddies” you can talk with will help you to keep things on track.
4. Recognize that misses are learning opportunities. You will have failures along the way. In fact if you don’t you might be playing it too safe. What will keep you moving forward is the ability to see those failures as opportunities to learn. Often learning what not to do is just as important as learning what you should do.
5. Celebrate your successes. Small successes should be acknowledged along the way. Don’t wait until you’ve achieved a big goal to celebrate. Celebrating those little successes keeps you feeling energized about the long-term goal, and helps you to track your progress. When you can see movement in the right direction, staying motivated is easier.
Resilience is a skill, and can be learned and improved. As you work toward those big goals in life, remember to do the things that can help you stay focused and positive even when things don’t go as planned.