The morning of the Academic Resilience Consortium conference we were warmly welcomed by Florida State University faculty. Our key note speaker was an energetic young man who opened with ‘I was the sixth fastest man in the world…until a debilitating injury crushed my dreams. I was on the Olympic team with three weeks until our event when I strained my hamstring. Though the coach called and wondered if I should step down I assured him I’d be ready. Off I went to the training room and rehab. I kept at it, I focused I, I, I” and the speaker described his amazing resilience...or was it? Following his successful race he despondently “went back to live with my ma. Then my high school guidance counselor called and asked if I could talk to the students. I told them my ‘come back ‘ story. After my talk a young girl came up in tears she was so inspired by my words.”
So yes, our athlete got back up but his resilience process was more than himself, he had a whole supportive routing section, his trainers, his mom, his counselor and his young fan. It took key relationships and Olympic size resources to be resilient.
We are not designed to go it alone, no one is. Our neurobiology is set up for connection, to relate to others, that’s how we have survived as a species. The old way of thinking is to learn from failure, count on the experts and you are on your own. The new way of thinking is to learn from your strengths, that you are the expert of your experience and we are in this together.
How have you been resilient? Notice what you used from being successful before, recognize your own strengths, what you do well. Then acknowledge the connections that support you and the resources you now had access to. Those are the ABCs of resilience::
Active coping, what worked before
Building on Strengths, what you do well
Cutlivating connections, reach out to your people to find your resources
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