This week I had the opportunity to interview a great friend and leader, David Beavers, of Nashville, on my podcast. ?This is an amazing interview you will want to listen to from a great leader about bouncing back from great disappointment and setbacks.
I have know David for decades, and I respect him for overcoming great odds to excel in leadership despite a lot of personal failure. ?He describes this journey in my podcast and gives some great insights into bouncing back.
David Beavers is a very successful business leader with the Juice PLUS+ Company. ?He leads a team of thousands of people who are making a difference and changing the world. ?Check out his book mentioned at the end of these notes.
Here is an excerpt from his BLOG and some thoughts that he shares on the podcast.
The Difference between Resilience and Peristence
Resilience is different from persistence. Not just different. More critical.
Persistence is the ability to stay in the game, to not quit, to hang in there. It?s the attitude needed for the long haul?the recognition that success in our business is not a hundred-yard dash, but a marathon.
Resilience is?about?our capacity to bounce back from difficulties, disappointments, heartbreak and hard times.
My sense is that we can have persistence, but may be lacking in resilience.
Resilience is critical in our business, leadership and in our lives. Persistence keeps us in the race, but resilience returns us to the right path when we get knocked off course, even knocked to the ground.
Persistence can tell us not to quit, but alone it cannot stir in us the willingness and the humility to let go of our failures and mistakes, to brush off the put-downs and negative attitudes of others.
Resilience is more than just being thick-skinned.
Resilience is a matter of having such a big picture of and encouraging perspective on our lives, that setbacks and disappointments in the moment don?t cripple our resolve or shatter the vision we have of our future.
Bren???Brown is one of my favorite authors. In her bestseller,?The Gifts of Imperfection, she lists the 5 most common factors in resilient people. I?ve added three more, so here are 8 key factors we will find in resilient people, 8 components which protect our potential for resilience.
1.?? People with resilience are resourceful and have good problem-solving skills.
2.?? People with resilience are more likely to ask for help.
3.???People with resilience hold the belief that they can do something that will help them to manage their feelings and to cope.
4.?? People with resilience have the social support available to them.
5.?? People with resilience are connected with others, such as family or friends.
6.?? People with resilience have a sense of ownership for their choices and the outcomes of their choices. They are not “blamers” or quick to find fault in others.
7.?? People with resilience have learned how to have ?hopeful? self-talk.
Without ?hopeful? self-talk, we hear things like.?This is supposed to be easy; it?s not worth the effort. Or,?This should be easier; it?s only hard and slow because I?m not any good at it.
Hopeful self-talk sounds more like:?My business is simple, but not easy. This is tougher than I expected, but I can do it.
Resilience not only gives us the capacity to bounce back from hardship and discouragement, but resilience also reduces our down time, and helps us to discipline our disappointments, to let go of resentments, to accept life on its own terms. We will see the possibilities and how to make lemonade out of lemons.
8.?? People with resilience tend to have a deep sense of spirituality, which is not the same as being super-religious or holding to a rigid belief system.
Resilient people have a faith in a power and a purpose greater than themselves, a belief in personal connections with other people based on love and compassion.
Resilient people not only believe in the values of hard work and persistence, but they also believe that?life itself is a gift, and that the blessings in our lives come to us not only by the?mastery?of certain skills, but also through the?mystery?of grace, through the tender compassion of Someone who loves us and?all people?unconditionally.
Phillips Brooks was one of America?s great preachers in the early 19th?Century. He established schools, authored books and composed hymns. In 1868 he published a little Christmas Carol called, ?O Little Town of Bethlehem.?
Below is my favorite Phillips Brooks quote. His words can help us stay centered and grounded, and inspire us to pursue our dreams and to build our leadership teams with humility, integrity and?resilience.
Do not pray for easy lives?pray to be stronger people.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers
?pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then,
the doing of your work shall be no miracle,
but you shall be a miracle.
Every day you shall wonder at yourself,
and the richness of life,
which has come to you by the grace of God.
??Learn about David’s book and get your own copy at:
JONATHAN GOODSON HAD IT ALL: beautiful wife, wonderful children, elegant home, successful career. Then came his confession of an affair with a younger married woman that cost him everything. Homeless, deserted, his life in ruins, Jonathan was ready to end it all when he was rescued from the darkness by the unconditional love of his Uncle Saul. Saul?s letters had once been guideposts to Jonathan as a star athlete, seminary standout and promising young pastor. Now, combining biblical scholarship and unflinching horse sense, Saul?s letters to Jonathan once more bring hope and wisdom into his life. Letters to Jonathan is the story of a life rewritten. Its honesty will shock you. Its message will transform you.
