Resilience

Resilience: what does being resilient mean in your life? It’s no surprise that life can be hard and will knock you down from time to time.

In the competitive world of business and sports, being resilient is almost a necessity.

Being able to bend but not break could give you the opportunity you need when the margin for error is so small. Below, I will give you three things you can do to be more resilient.

Resilience isn’t just about being tough. Some people just have a different level of pain tolerance and mental toughness. That may be mostly a genetic trait you can’t control. Lets focus on what we can control, even out on the playing field.

Control your self-talk

What we tell ourselves consciously or unconsciously becomes our reality. The last thing you want to do during injury or period of tough luck is constantly remind yourself how hard it is and having a pessimistic outlook on the future. Have a daily practice of positive self-talk and visualization. This is so easy you probably won’t do it but keep it simple and stay consistent. The power of a positive outlook is undeniable in increasing your resilience. 

Control your strength training

From a physical standpoint you must strength train to build a more robust and resilient body. With strength comes more resiliency to the forces being placed on the body during sport. For example, sprinting involves forces that joints must absorb. The stronger the body, the lower the magnitude of those forces will be thus making the body more resilient to injury during sprinting. Not sure how to train for your sport? We can help.

Control your lifestyle habits

Lastly we must speak to the importance of lifestyle habits like nutrition, sleep, and hydration. If you want a more resilient body and mind it should go with out saying that these are non-negotiable. You can have the best training and be the most mentally tough on the field, but if you eat fast food, sleep 5 hours per night, and only drink the water you got from brushing your teeth, your body will more resemble an aging elderly body than one of a high-performing athlete.

There you have it. Work on these three aspects of your life and you’re well on your way to being more resilient.

In closing, I believe accepting the challenges and hardships that come with being a high performer is as important as anything. Don’t be surprised when life knocks you down — do everything you can on a daily basis to be prepared.