RESILIENCE MATTERS!

There is a great difference between failing to achieve a result and the conclusion you draw about yourself. In Carol Dweck's book 'Mindset' she explains that those who stay down after a setback make a judgment that they have failed, not just that their attempt failed. On a small scale, being resilient enables us to raise our hand and risk "sounding stupid." On a bigger scale, it allows us to try something really hard whether or not we're sure we'll do well at it.

People with a 'fixed mindset' often generalize from their “failures” to conclusions such as, “I am a loser,” and “I will probably always fail. Therefore, they assume, there is no point in getting up and working at problems and issues. So they quit, they give up and they seek a more comfortable option such as eating, drinking, shopping whatever to avoid facing what they consider to be their personal failure. We need to help young people develop resilience, so that they can make the most of their opportunities to learn. The growth and wisdom that comes from managing setbacks and failures should not be considered the alternative to success, but rather the way in which new perspectives are gained and crucial shifts in thinking happen. It's not about how large or small your failure is, it's what you learn as a result.