Quotes About Resilience

A proud heart can survive general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.

I broke at last the terror-fringed fascination that bound my ancient gaze to those crowding faces of plunder and seized my remnant life in a miracle of decision between white collar hands and shook it like a cheap watch in my ear and threw it down beside me on the earth floor and rose to my feet.

I keep telling Chris that life is simpler that way. Much simpler. Stop looking back over your shoulder, I tell him. There ain't no deliverer running just a little behind schedule. March to the stake like a man and take the bullet in your chest. Much simpler.

When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.

Do not despair. I know you will not despair. You have a manly and a proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.

Gravity can also shape our emotional selves. Emotional baggage, for instance, is a form of gravity; we acquire more of it as we get older, and it weighs us down. The more emotional gravity we're fighting, the more force we require to move forward. And force moving against gravity creates a lot of friction. On

What did you guys fail at this week?" "If we had nothing to tell him, he'd be disappointed," Blakely said.

one way to motivate a switch is to shrink the change, which makes people feel "big" relative to the challenge.

What have you failed at this week?

Rather than focusing solely on what's new and different about the change to come, make an effort to remind people what's already been conquered.

When Blakely and her brother were growing up, her father would ask them a question every week at the dinner table: "What did you guys fail at this week?" "If we had nothing to tell him, he'd be disappointed," Blakely said. "The logic seems counterintuitive, but it worked beautifully. He knew that many people become paralyzed by the fear of failure.

Any new quest, even one that is ultimately successful, is going to involve failure.

if people are facing a daunting task, and their instinct is to avoid it, you've got to break down the task. Shrink the change. Make the change small enough that they can't help but score a victory.

Everything can look like a failure in the middle." A similar sentiment is expressed by marriage therapist Michele Weiner-Davis, who says that "real change, the kind that sticks, is often three steps forward and two steps back." If failure is a necessary part of change, then the way people understand failure is critical.

when you seek out situations where you might fail, failure loses some of its menace. You've been inoculated against it.

motivation comes from feeling—knowledge isn't enough to motivate change. But motivation also comes from confidence. The Elephant has to believe that it's capable of conquering the change. And there are two routes to building people's confidence so that they feel "big" relative to their challenge. You can shrink the change or grow your people (or, preferably, both).

What's least commonsensical is that pits can sometimes be flipped into peaks.

Fill pits, then build peaks.

her successes came despite a lack of authority and resources.

A small win reduces importance ('this is no big deal'), reduces demands ('that's all that needs to be done'), and raises perceived skill levels ('I can do at least that')." All three of these factors will tend to make change easier and more self-sustaining.

dogged focus

Teach the growth mindset. Every success is going to involve rough patches.

achieving success requires some failures along the way. Don't beat yourself up when those failures occur.

What separated Blakely from other women with the same idea was her persistence.