Resilience: How to Rescue Yourself from Adversity

Build a first responder mindset

Build a first responder mindset.

Rescuing yourself from distress — Pic by Neil Thomas

Why do some people break while others thrive in adversity?

All eyes were on Thailand as millions followed the Cave Rescue mission — it was impossible not to empathize with those twelve boys, their coach and, of course, the brave rescue team.

Parents (me included) couldn’t stop but thinking about the families of those kids. We all hoped the rescuers could bring those kids back to their parents. However, the biggest worry wasn’t the abilities of the rescuers, but of the victim themselves.

Do the children and their coach have what it takes to survive until rescuers come their way?

That’s the paradox of resilience: to overcome adversity, you must rescue yourself first. Your mindset, not the event, defines if you will be ‘rescued’ or not.

Resilience is less about who you are and more about how you think.

Your ability to bounce back is not just a means to survive extreme situations — recovering from everyday event…