Most people have a plan…until they get punched in the mouth. –Mike Tyson, Philosopher/Boxer
Who would have thought “Iron” Mike Tyson could be a spokesman for The Resilient Worker? As we all know, Mike Tyson was one of the most ferocious fighters of all time. He doggedly pursued his opponents in the ring and hunted them down with a vengeance. While he is not the greatest role model, his quote highlights a key aspect of resiliency. Careful planning is a leading indicator of success in both our personal lives and our careers. By establishing a regimen and working hard toward your goals, you are putting yourself in a position for a happier life. We can plan to save money each month for a new house or a car. We can plan to marry and speculate about the number children we will have in the future. We can plan to work our way up the corporate ladder and achieve financial success. All of these goals require discipline, foresight and diligent planning. And all the great laid plans of mice and men can go out the window in the blink of an eye. What happens if we lose our job and the savings disappear? What happens if we never find the right companion to settle down with in life? What happens if we make the wrong political move in the office and end up in the mailroom? Most people have a plan. But what do you do when that haymaker lands squarely on your jaw?
The reality is, most of us do not deal well with adversity. We do not plan to fail and we do not envision our dreams falling apart. That is actually a good thing. It is a testimony to our optimism and self-confidence believing failure is not an option. But it also makes it that much more devastating when our plans go sideways. Here, Tyson offers another bit of hardscrabble realism: “When someone gets hit the first time, they stop in fear and freeze. I can see in their eyes that they have given up. They now have no chance.” Iron Mike showed no mercy when he sensed his opponent had stopped moving forward. Life will treat you the same way. Our path to success and happiness is not a linear journey. There may be initial triumphs, but they will inevitably be followed by a series of failures. Failure in judgment. Failure in execution. Failure due to circumstances you cannot control. Regardless of the setback, you cannot stop in fear and freeze. A deer in the headlights eventually becomes road kill. Inaction and self-pity will not break the cycle to get you back on a path to success. The essence of resiliency is the ability to keep moving forward even when we are still reeling from a devastating event.
To carry the analogy even further, once a champion prizefighter realizes he has not been knocked out, he shakes off that initial blow and resumes his attack. His confidence then builds with every punch he is able to endure. He realizes that, while painful, these punches are not fatal and will absolutely not keep him from his ultimate goal. Victory is inevitable if he keeps moving forward! In the same way, once we realize a setback in our career or personal life is not fatal, we can move on with our lives and start the journey back to happiness and success. The next time we experience a bump in the road, we have the confidence of knowing we have powered through in the past. This confidence builds over time and soon there is nothing that can stop us! But we have to withstand that initial attack in order to have that satisfying experience of coming back. There is no throwing in the towel on your life! By moving forward and setting fear aside, we can build a circle of resiliency that will launch us on a path to success.
What will you do when you suffer that initial punch? You may see it coming in slow motion or it may rock your world from a blind spot. Either way, it is okay to get wobbly in the knees. Even the toughest person feels the sting of failure. But your reaction to this adversity will ultimately define your character and set the tone for others around you. Shake it off! Move forward! Go back on the attack! A few difficult rounds in life only make you more resilient. Finish strong. You will be a champion.
Until next week, keep smiling!