Stress Less, Thrive More: The Role of Resilience in Success

Resilience is the ability of a subject or object to bounce back into shape; to retain its essence and wholeness. 

When reaching for goals, we are often asked to stretch our limits and move into new and unknown territories — and it doesn’t always go as we hope it will. Past experiences of failure or heightened stress can be enough to keep us from taking that next big (or small) leap. When these fears block your growth, you miss out on contributing your gifts to the professional and personal experiences you love and value. 

What role does resilience play in success? 

An important one. Without resilience, the success we gain may be short-lived because we’ve reached it through unsustainable means of hustle and sacrifice. Or, the success we seek becomes unreachable because we struggle to find balance or regain a sense of wholeness after setbacks or unplanned reroutes. 

Whatever your goals are, you need more than courage and grit to evolve and succeed. Focusing on building your resilience ensures that you’re moving forward with wholeness, confidence, and balance.

Resiliency practices help us maintain perspective and a connection to our internal compass to stay the course and achieve true, sustainable success. Let’s learn how.

Step 1: Reorient towards growth

Begin by broadening your definition of success. Take a moment and bring to mind what that might be. 

Does success look like an external goal? Is it something you’re always chasing? Can your version of success include lifestyle goals like slowing down or spending more time connecting with people and experiences that matter to you? Can success be a consistent movement forward, embracing dips and valleys, or is your image of success a straight line from A to B?

When we redefine success and broaden it to encompass the bigger picture — with the knowledge that setbacks are a very normal part of the growth path — we are building the skill of resilience while reducing the barriers that might otherwise keep us from moving forward. 

If you struggle with setbacks, try these mindset shifts to help you bounce back: 

• Experiencing a setback is a sign that you’re still in the game and are actively shaping and working toward what you want. Success is not the absence of setbacks, it is the very presence of setbacks (and the relationship you get to strengthen with yourself at each one.) 

• Success does not have to be correlated with undue amounts of stress. Take a moment and reflect on how success has been modeled for you. Do you believe in “no pain, no gain”? Do you have the experience of overriding your body’s capacity for stress in order to achieve a goal? 

Your invitation here is to reconnect the feeling of success with the feeling of thriving. With that, what could your new definition of success be? What does it mean to you to thrive? 

Step 2: Celebrate the gains

Reflect over your last season of life and jot down all your wins, big and small. If you think of one but your mind tells you it’s too small, write it down anyway. When we practice noticing the good things, we imbue ourselves with positivity that significantly helps to grow resilience. When faced with stressful times, the practice of celebrating ourselves increases our capacity to stay the course and decreases our stress, giving us the ability to not only enjoy the process more but also to perhaps notice opportunities we might otherwise miss. 

Now, write out all your setbacks. 

What lessons and insights can be learned from each setback? What strength(s) did you employ that you can acknowledge yourself for? If you can’t think of something that feels genuine, consider giving yourself credit for your willingness to keep going and never give up.

Each time you prioritize staying connected and compassionate with yourself while facing difficult emotions, you strengthen your resilience and increase your ability to move toward your goals. 

For each setback, notice if there’s a tendency to discount your affirmation to yourself. 

This could mean feeling stuck in the gap of thinking of how far you are from where you want to be. When you struggle to acknowledge how far you’ve come, keep connecting back to your heart, your effort, and your truth. You’ll begin to notice a shift in how you orient towards the big leaps that stretch you to new heights, rather than avoid them out of fear of stress or failure. 

Step 3: Refocus on what matters

It can be harder to grow and to bounce back if you’re experiencing a stress/fulfillment imbalance. Think of your resilience as a bank account — stress is a withdrawal, while fulfillment is a deposit. 

What matters most to you about your work and goals? Why do they matter? 

What matters most to you outside of work? How nourished are you (as in, how much time have you spent filling up your cup) in the areas of fulfillment and value outside of what you do?

If it’s been a minute since you intentionally focused on filling up your tank (not just food and movement, but activities that bring you joy, spending time in play, in connection with those you love, etc.) this is your invitation to revisit those things. Begin to factor them into your schedule as real non-negotiables on your path to resilience, health, and balanced success.

Staying on track with your goals and navigating the ups and downs of your growth journey doesn’t have to be stressful. Increasing awareness of your mindset paired with intentional practices focused on building resilience can help you move from stressed to thriving no matter where you are on your path toward success. 

Ready to build resilience? Connect with TaskHuman Coach Emma Tait and other coaches to help you lean into the three practices shared above and build a sustainable life of success that truly represents and makes space for you. 

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