Keys to Success: Excellence through Resilience

In this six week series, each Monday, we'll be exploring what it takes to succeed.

I like the word resilience because it sounds like brilliance. Who doesn't want to be brilliant or shine brilliantly? Stars (the ones in the sky and not the ones in the tabloids) are naturally brilliant but for us humans, we don't achieve brilliance without a lot of resilience.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after failures, setbacks, defeats and discouragements. Think of success as a buried treasure. To get to that treasure, you have to dig, and digging is hard work. However, as you dig, it's not uncommon to come across tree roots, unexpected water, maybe even animals who burrow under the ground. If you want to get to your treasure, you have to get around those obstacles.

I didn't start having any success at all in my weight loss until I developed some resiliency. At first, every misstep: doughnuts at work, indulging too much while eating out, a cold that kept me from working out for a couple days, was enough to knock me completely off track. I'd have to stop the diet and start again ... later ... much later.

I was looking for perfection and when I didn't get it, I'd quit, vowing to be perfect the next time. Well, the next time would come later and later and in the meantime, I kept gaining weight. Then I changed.

I said to myself, "Mistakes happen. Deal with them."

So if I ate the glazed donut at work, I ate lighter at dinner. If I didn't exercise for a few days, fine, as soon as I felt better I did. If I fell off track, instead of staying off track, I got back on track at the very next meal. Not only did I feel better about myself. I started losing weight.

I've built setbacks into the process and found ways to work around them and it made all of the difference. Finally, I've started to lose a few pounds. Resilience has been the key to my brilliance and I feel great!

Here's one of my favorite videos. If you've ever failed, you are in great company!