Today is February 4 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is: "How resilient are you?"
Those who navigate the chaos seldom blame their parents, situation, or misfortune.
Unfortunately, many people who struggle with navigating the chaos often blame their childhood for a lack of success later in life.
Lacking access to education, opportunities, and mentors, some say, prohibits one from developing the necessary personal and professional skills required to succeed as an adult.
A life of despair, dysfunction, and poverty is the only visible path.
Researchers have shown that these risks are real, but they also have found a surprising pattern among those whose early lives included tough times:
Many draw strength from hardship and see their struggle against it as one of the keys to their later success.
A wide range of studies over the past few decades has shed light on how such people overcome life’s adversities—and how we might all cultivate resilience as well.
One such study was the Kauai Longitudinal Study, an ongoing project begun in 1955 by psychologists Emmy Werner and Ruth Smith, examined 698 babies born on the island that year, with assessments at ages 1, 2, 10, 18, 32 and 40.
Of the children in the study, Drs. Werner and Smith identified 129 as being at high risk for future problems, because they faced four or more adversities at birth, ranging from poverty and family discord to alcoholism or mental illness in the home.
Two-thirds of these high-risk children went on to have difficulties of their own, such as delinquency, unplanned pregnancies and underemployment.
One-third, however, fared well. At school and at work, they did as well as, or better than, their low-risk peers from more affluent, stable homes. In adulthood, they found supportive partners and built loving families that, often, differed greatly from the ones they grew up with.
These resilient individuals became, in the words of the researchers “competent, confident, caring adults.”
These individuals practiced resilience in a number of ways. First, they were active problem solvers who, over a period of decades, fought for better lives for themselves. Second, they used whatever strengths they had to their advantage such as a particular talent, an engaging personality, or a ready intelligence. Additionally, they sought out support via friends, teachers, neighbors or relatives. They made plans to better themselves and set ambitious but realistic goals for the future. Finally, they created opportunities to move forward in life, by way of higher education, the military, a new job, a supportive partner or parenthood.
As author Alain de Botton noted “A good half of the art of living is resilience.”
Colombian weightlifter Oscar Figueroa knows a thing or two about resilience. Figueroa competed in the Olympics four times, claiming fifth in 2004, taking a DNF (did not finish) in 2008 after injury, a silver in 2012, and finally a gold in 2016.
To win gold, however, Figueroa had to overcome a serious life-threatening injury after suffering from a cervical spine hernia in the 6 & 7 discs.
After surgeries and intense rehabilitation, Figueroa finally claimed gold in the 2016 Olympics.
As Figueroa said, “You need to have guts when you’re up against it.” How often do you practice resilience?