Bouncing Back !

What is it that enables people to persevere in overcoming obstacles and setbacks that, otherwise, vanquish the less disciplined and less committed? Simple. Self-discipline. Here's why.

'When a self-disciplined person is faced with adversity, s/he rises to the challenge, and often emerges stronger than ever before.A self-disciplined person calls upon his/her inner resources in order to find creative solutions to the challenges on hand. S/he also relentlessly pursues a goal to which s/he is committed. All of us have this untapped resource in some measure.

These resources, however, are not handy or readily available. People differ considerably in their ability to bounce back from a setback. Some people, for instance, are remarkably resilient, while others seem to throw in the towel even Career rules When faced with a minor disappointment or frustration. Most of us fall somewhere in - between the two extremes.You ought to first know and understand your capacity - the capacity for bouncing back in the wake of a `storm.' It's something that sets the stage for enhancing your resilience. To do this, you've got to test your resilience and promote recovery through positive thinking. Great comebacks are fuelled by large doses of optimism. Here's what you can do:

Think Positively :

To put it differently, a person who readily overcomes adversity exercises self-discipline to think positively. The trick is to tell yourself, 'Don't give up.' 'This too will pass.' 'Happiness is just around the corner.' 'Keep trying.' and so on. More important, you have to visualize a positive conclusion. It's only then that you can-prompt yourself to use all your creative energies to make your expectations come true.

Do not Wallow :

Never waste time commiserating over an adverse event. Take the resilient cases of people who have overcome adversity. Or, of someone who made it big from scratch, or refused to give up in despair. Or, a friend, who went through many a bad spell, and finally got through to say that s/he was lucky to be where s/he is! As noted psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi put it succinctly: " Resilient people are good at transforming chaos into order." He also adds that they are able to take a seemingly hopeless situation and convert it into an activity they can control and also relish. Chaos, when actualized, spurs the self-disciplined person to new heights of imaginative problem solving.

Be Realistic :

If you are persistent, you can acquire self-discipline. Self-discipline will help you develop patience, which is again an important component of persistence. When you attain these two dimensions, you are willing to invest as much time as necessary to achieve an important goal.Here's an example. You lose your job. It's an adverse circumstance. Think of it with a positive frame of mind: that here's an opportunity to find a job you really want, or start a new career.

Think Positively :

When the goals you have established fit neither the reality of the outside world, nor your own capabilities, it's time you changed goals. The proposition, as you'd now conjure, is to do well in career and life. On your own terms: if that's possible.