Resilience refers to the ability to keep moving forward no matter what. They say the most successful people in this world were those who failed the most. It took Thomas Edison 1,000 to invent the light bulb.

Michael Jordan missed 9,000 shots in his career and lost 300 games. We tend not to remember those facts, however, because these people took the hit, and kept moving forward. You need to learn to do this as well.

4 Benefits of Resilience

1. Improved learning and academic achievement

Poor students look at a homework assignments and say, “This is too hard.” before turning on their Xbox or going to the club. Great students look at homework assignments, say “This is too hard.” before spending as long as it takes learning what they need to succeed. While it’s true that some students are naturally smart and don’t have to try very hard, a key trait among successful students is resilience. Even the smartest students will need to be resilient if they end up in med or law school.

2. Lower absences from work or study due to sickness

Resilient people want to work. They have their eye on the next prize and a cough or sneeze is not going to get into their way. This doesn’t mean that they will succeed at the cost of their own health, of course. It just means they will only stay home if they absolutely have to.

3. Reduced use of risk-taking behaviors

Risk-taking behaviors include excessive drinking, smoking or use of drugs. Many people who do these things do them to escape because they have given up. Resilient people do not need to escape problems in their life.

4. Increased involvement in community or family activities, A lower rate of mortality and increased physical health.

To succeed, the resilient person realizes that taking care of himself or herself is paramount.

They also see that the community they live in is important, especially if they have kids who play and go to school in it. They will not settle for poor health or a poor community because those things do not meet their standards.

How to Become more Resilient

Like anything in life, becoming more resilient takes practice. Three great ways to cultivate resilience are learning the power of “No.,” not settling for something you don’t want, and taking care of your physical health. When we tell people “No.,” it gives us the power to use our energy wisely. If we agree to do whatever someone asks, we have less energy to do higher priority tasks. The resilient person knows their limits and when they need to say “No.”Too often in life, we think we don’t deserve what we want. So, we take a bad job, get in toxic relationships, and develop poor coping mechanisms to deal with it all.

This all came from the decision to give up on what we really want. To get what we really want, we need resilience. Aiming for that which we want is a great way to develop the resilience to get it.The resilient person knows that they have limited resources. If you don’t get sleep, you are less resilient. If you don’t eat right, you are less resilient. A big part of becoming more resilient is taking the time to take care of yourself.