What Resilience Means, and Why It Matters

In the cycle of planning and adapting, demonstrating willpower (control before the fact) and resilience (control after the fact) is critical.76 In a large-scale and long-term study led by Mark Seery, it was found that “people with a history of some lifetime adversity reported better mental health and well-being outcomes than not only people with a

resilience—“good outcomes in spite of serious threats to adaptation or development.”

The second characteristic of resilient people is a sense of purpose — being motivated by a sense of meaning rather than by just money. Although purpose and money are not mutually exclusive, you’re more likely to be resilient when you know that even in awful or stressful situations, you’re working toward a greater and larger good.

From this foundation of spirituality, three other significant patterns emerged as being essential to resilience: 1. Cultivating hope 2. Practicing critical awareness 3. Letting go of numbing and taking the edge off vulnerability, discomfort, and pain

People who maintain optimistic thoughts gain resilience. When they have setbacks, they see the issue as temporary and specific, not permanent and pervasive.