The Go Farther Episode #5: Resilience: Be Resilient

By Scott Sambucci | March 22, 2024

“Fall down seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese proverb

Resilience is dealing with obstacles over time. Building resilience is like building a muscle. 

The best training run I did preparing for the Lake Sonoma 100k last fall was a 25-miler when I had dead legs from the get-go. I couldn’t even move downhill well. I bonked at mile 8. I grinded through the 25 miles, telling myself that this is a good thing because on race day, I will have tired legs. I might bonk. But I’ll need to keep moving forward. The more experience I have pushing and grinding through the miles, the more prepared I’ll be for the race.

Before swimming the Catalina Channel, I swam across Lake Tahoe as a training swim – getting up at 2:30am to meet my boat at 3am. Swimming in cold water to feel that sensation. Grinding out the last mile when I was so close, but still so far from shore. That experience swimming 11 miles built resilience for when I swam 24 miles across the Channel. The ocean temps dropped in the last three miles and my pace slowed to > 1 mph. But I knew I’d be in a similar situation before – I knew I could keep going.

Our brains are designed to seek comfort and stability – that’s why we need to consciously push ourselves  to do hard things.  

At work, the hard things we look to avoid might be –

• Doing 20 touches every day to build the sales funnel because it’s late in the day and we’re tired.
• Letting go of the underperforming team member Introducing objections into the sales because we’re hoping that one deal will close or next month will get better after the Big Industry Conference.
• Introducing objections to the sale because we don’t want to create friction in the sales process.

At home, hard things might be –

• Putting the phone down at dinner and listening to your son tell you about Fortnite.
• Finding a babysitter so you can go out for a movie and ice cream with your partner.
• Making time to exercise every day no matter what, even if that’s a walk about the neighborhood or a slow 3-mile jog.

Remember that stressors are a good thing – to learn how to solve problems and get stronger for the next time.

David Goggins talks about the “Cookie Jar.” When you’re dealing with hard things, doubting yourself or wondering how you’re going to get past the obstacles in front of you – “You have to remind yourself how bad-ass you really are.” 

Push yourself a little longer. Set higher expectations. Move today’s finish line a little farther. Nudge, cajole, coerce and force yourself to do a little more right now. This will build resilience, and every time you do, you’ve got yet another experience to add to all of the hard things you’ve done – the attempts, the achievements, the obstacles you’ve overcome along the way.

Do More. Be Happy. Surprise Yourself.

#GoFarther