To Be Successful You Must Be Resilient

Recently I was reading about the journey of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 to explore and map the new Louisiana territory purchased from the French by the United States.

It was a journey that took them northwest from St Louis Mo. following the Missouri River.

Photo from pbs.orgIt was a 2-1/2 year journey from St Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back. By the time they had returned they had traveled almost 8,000 miles.

It wasn't the time that it took to make that journey that struck me as unique it was the resilience that they displayed to keep moving forward despite all the setbacks along the way.

They battled "nearly insurmountable problems--hunger, fatigue, desertion, hostile enemies, severe illness, and death" (Walking on the Water). When they finally reached the headwaters of the Missouri River they had been led to believe that the rest of the journey would be a downhill ride down the Columbia River.

That was when they faced their greatest challenge. They would have to cross the Rocky Mountains to complete their journey. It was later described as the supreme achievement of the whole trip.

Resilience is the quality of being able to adapt to stressful life changes and bouncing back from hardship.

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” ― Nelson Mandela

First of all let me say that I believe that human kind in the past generations were a hearty lot. Very few knew the luxury many know today - that ability to get just about anything you need with a short trip to the store or the ability of finding just about anything online.

Past generations understood that hardship was normal, that to succeed in any venture you must adapt and keep trying no matter what challenge they face.

Success comes when one develops the ability to bounce back from adversity.

If we are not naturally resilient can we develop it? Yes we can. There are things we can do to develop the habit of resilience. Here are two things I learned from reading about Lewis and Clark.

Embrace change. Learn to adapt to new circumstances. In the short time I have been here there have been several changes to the way Google ranking works. For some it might be a reason to give up. Sometimes your great idea for a website doesn't work, embrace change, try something new, but don't quit.

Learn continuously. Be a lifelong learner. Learn and develop new skills. Don't hold onto what no longer works. Be ever-learning, ever-improving.

I do hope that in the short time it took you to read this blog that you were inspired to move beyond whatever challenge you face today to embrace life with resilience.

Set your face towards your end goal and don't stop moving forward no matter what mountain of obstacles you face. Be Resilient. Become A Success Story.

Thank you for stopping by and reading this post and I hope you hit the like button below and leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with overcoming struggles.

Blessings

Ray