| Ross Edgley is an award-winning adventurer who is best known for swimming around Britain and breaking all sorts of records, including swimming 1,780 miles in 157 days. Not surprisingly, he wrote a book called The Art of Resilience, and in it, there are several lessons on resilience that we can apply ourselves. Lesson #1– We don’t get to control what happens to us; we can only control what happens inside us = our response. The best way to practice this? Journaling. Lesson #2 – Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation. No surprise here, but an inside job is more effective at creating motivation than outside stimulus. The world’s greatest athletes know this. Lesson #3 – We can train for anything, including the ability to endure pain. And while I’m not suggesting anyone should “train for pain,” it does speak to our tremendous capacity to endure and to triumph when we understand that the pain will pass. Lesson #4 -To walk your own path, write your own plan. In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb was the first person to swim the English Channel – a feat most believed impossible. Webb was resilient, though, and believed you could: • Manage your body’s ability to tolerate stress, so that your brain can direct it; we are way stronger than we think, and through accessing ourselves, we can push ourselves just a little more. Lesson #5 – Respect your individuality – don’t compare yourself to others – on anything. Your uniqueness is your strength. Know yourself by not limiting yourself. You’re the expert! Lesson #6 – Fast can be fragile, and slow can be strong. Athletes cycle through their training – we need to be able to do this in life as well. Sometimes we need to be able to react fast; sometimes slow. Everything thought through – this is how we can respond from a place of strength and resilience. Lesson #7 – Fatigue slows down our thinking, not just our bodies. Understanding that tired people don’t process anything well, including our thoughts, saves us from making poor decisions. Take a lesson from Scarlett O’Hara and think about it in the morning – preferably after a good night’s sleep. One last lesson – and this one is a game-changer: Your emotions and well-being can have a profound impact on your resilience. The great explorer Ernest Shackleton, who crossed Antarctica via the South Pole on the HMS Endurance, managed the morale of his men and credited their survival to the science of a smile. Wise Women understand this and use it. |
