5 Things Resilient Women Do

I invite you to take a moment and think about the women you know or admire. Perhaps it’s your mother or favorite teacher or even Miss Oprah Winfrey herself - what is it about these women that garners your affection and admiration? While they might possess many endearing qualities such as compassion, generosity or strength, the one quality I would venture to say they all have in common is resilience.

As humans, we are enamored with resilience. Who doesn’t love a good underdog story, right?! What person doesn’t love to see someone triumph over their challenges? We’ve seen a million movies offering that exact story line and doesn’t it restore your faith in the human spirit and leave you feeling inspired? The dictionary definition of resilience is “recovering readily from illness or adversity.”

With so much happening in the world and in our personal lives, how can we recover readily from adversity? How can we bounce back and not let challenges take us out? Well there are five things resilient women do and by embracing them, you too can develop your capacity to happily and readily recover from life’s challenges.

1. See Challenges as Opportunities

One of the foundational principles I teach in my transformational programs is that everything, truly everything, you experience in life is simply an opportunity to grow and develop more and more into the woman you desire to be. It’s so simple, but certainly not easy to live by! When life shows up as challenging, stressful, scary and just plain sucky, who wants to see it as an opportunity? But that’s exactly what it is. An opportunity to learn and grow.

Years ago, I remember when I was going through my own personal transformational journey, feeling discontented, disconnected and unhappy. And having health struggles on top of it (of course these were all related), but the point is that I really had a hard time grasping that something good could from all of this.

Yet here I am today, turning my experience into programs that give women the tools, support and steps they need to get more in their lives. I would never be here if it wasn’t for those challenges. It was from those challenges that I evolved and developed into the woman I am today.

Resilient women know that life throws us things that we would rather not have to deal with, but choose to handle them with grace, dignity and the willingness to find a gift in every experience. What challenge are you currently experiencing that you would be open to exploring as an opportunity?

2. Listen To Their Intuition

Miss Oprah is one of my heros. As much for the platform and empire she created as for what she has done lately. Yes she has influenced millions and millions of women over the years and has brought awareness to issues which was so desperately needed, but more than that, she listened to her own intuition.

It was her instinct that guided her to branch out from just the tired, traditional talk show topics. It was her intuition that allowed her to connect with her guests in the most real and authentic way. It was her own knowing that ultimately directed her to offer her followers a way of interpreting mind, body and spirit that has helped millions reconnect to their truth and center. Even when it might not have made the most business sense or may have been questioned by others, she has always followed her gut.

Resilient women follow their intuition, even when it’s not popular or supported. What is your intuition currently telling you?

3. Surround Themselves With Support

A common theme that I often see with the successful women I work with is the idea that they have to do everything themselves. Whether it’s a control issue or just being really specific about what you will accept - either way, doing it alone is exhausting!

To truly be resilient and handle life’s ups and downs, we need support. Especially as women, we feel so much better when we are supported, connected and part of something whether that’s family, community or organization. Support from others to help us through things, to listen, to offer feedback, to remind us of the truth when we cannot see it for ourselves. All of this comes from other people and the support they can give to us which is so essential during challenging times.

Return back to the resilient women you know or admire and notice how supported they are. I bet they have many people around them as part of their support system. Take a moment to give gratitude for the people who give you support, and also ask yourself are there ways in which you need more support?

4. Reinvent Themselves

Another one of my heros is Ali Brown who’s been called “The Entrepreneurial Guru for Women”. One of the things I admire about her is how she’s reinvented herself time and time again. She hasn’t stayed stuck in an identity or a business model that doesn’t allow her to be and express her true talents as they develop.

She started out selling baby products out of her home, went on to become a coach for business owners and is now offering her services specifically to women entrepreneurs who want to be successful and do something they love at the same time. As she has evolved herself, she allowed her message, her services and her business to evolve as well - bringing everything she learned along the way into what she teaches and preaches.

If you are feeling stuck, stifled or stangnet in any way, it might be time for some reinvention. You might just have outgrown an identity or role you play and are ready to evolve into something more suitable for who you are today. As humans, we have an innate drive to grow, develop and evolve throughout our life. How can your life match who you have become?

5. Don’t Give Up

There’s this saying that says, “Don’t give up before the miracle happens.” Part of being resilient is not giving up on yourself, your dreams, your goals and desires. Even when it seems impossible or unlikely, trusting in yourself or life that things will and always do work out. Some might call it faith or positive thinking, whatever it is, it is a powerful force that gets you through adversity.

The one thing I personally did that made the biggest impact in my incredible personal transformation is that I never gave up. Even when others lost faith or gave me dire outcomes, I never gave up. Now of course I had my moments of feeling discouraged and down, I wouldn’t be human otherwise! But there was always a part of me that knew I would someday overcome.

I don’t know where this came from, if it is just a gift or perhaps I learned it from being raised by a single parent. In any event, I just never gave up and that lead me to find the right people, places and things to help me grow, heal, develop, evolve and ultimately overcome. Can you connect to the part of you that isn’t ready to give up? The more you connect to that part of you, the more it will grow and become your focus.

I invite you to implement these five things and watch how you develop into a resilient woman who other’s admire.