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Blue Eden Project

The four qualities required for achieving success and overcoming adversity, and how to develop them

Life is not easy.

That you will face difficulties, hardships and obstacles in life you can count on.

Some will be easy to overcome, and at other times you will have to give it your all.

To navigate through life easier you need the qualities of resilience, perseverance, patience and discipline.


Let’s start with Resilience

What does it mean to be resilient?


To be resilient means to be able to cope well mentally and emotionally with life’s difficulties.

It’s the process of adapting and overcoming successfully, the challenging experiences in life. The ability to bounce back when things are not going as planned, quickly.

Let me ask you this – when things don’t go as planned, do you tend to bounce back or fall apart?

If you bounce back quite easily, it means you are resilient.

Being resilient means means you harness your inner strength that helps you rebound from a setback, instead of dwelling on the problem, feeling victimized, and falling apart.

Or, turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse, eating disorders, or risky behavior.

Resilience gives us strength to face our challenges head-on, overcome adversity, and move on with our lives.

Being resilient means that you face your challenges with courage and a positive attitude.

It means you use healthy coping skills to navigate through your difficulties, in ways that develop strength and growth, often emerging stronger on the other side.

Maya Angelou said it best:

“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”

How to develop resilience:

  • Remain hopeful

  • Improve yourself through personal development

  • Be patient with yourself and practice self care

  • Work on developing you EQ

  • Focus on what you can control

  • Have a positive can-do attitude

  • Think of how you have coped with and overcame past adversities

  • Seek support and guidance from family and close friends

  • Look at things with a optimistic perspective

  • Learn from failure – there are no mistakes, only lessons

  • Know that everything is temporary, and things will change with time



Now let’s move on to Perseverance

Perseverance means you have the quality of not giving up.

It is the ability to deal with setbacks and failures without being discouraged.

Perseverance is applying continued effort in the pursuit of your goal, despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

It is the quality that keeps you trying, and trying, and trying again, until you succeed.

Perseverance is needed in all areas of our lives.

Perseverance is required to learn any new skill.

Perseverance is necessary in both our personal and professional lives.

How to develop perseverance:

  • Have clear goals that pull you forward

  • Understand that everything is hard before it becomes easy

  • Acknowledge and celebrate your small wins – they mean you are making progress

  • Don’t be afraid to try new things.

  • Remember your “Why”

  • Keep trying, but smartly. Try something different, if what you tried didn’t work



And now we come to Patience

Many have a false belief that patience means waiting and doing nothing.


Yes, patience does mean that you have the ability to stay calm in the face of frustration and adversity.

But is does not mean doing nothing…

The best definition of patience I found is from Roy T. Bennett:

“Patience is not the ability to wait. Patience is to be calm no matter what happens, constantly take action to turn it to positive growth opportunities, and have faith to believe that it will work out in the end while you are waiting.”

Now, that’s more like it... 😊


Being patient is paramount, because all great achievement take time.


Anything that is worth while in life will take time to accomplish.


Many of us become impatient and frustrated when thing don’t go our way, or when they don't happen as quickly as we would like.


But there are no overnight successes, even if it may seem like it.


And if you do find the odd one, it’s an exception to the rule.


How to develop patience:

  • Practice mindfulness and being in the present moment

  • Practice being a good listener

  • Practice being patient with the smaller stuff

  • Learn to accept things for what they are

  • When feeling rushed, consciously slow things down

  • Take time out for reflection

  • Delay gratification



And last but by no means least is Discipline


Now this is a big one, and what cripples many of us.


None of the above will be of much help if you are not disciplined.


Discipline is the quality most attributed to success.


Discipline means you have the ability to control your reactions, impulses, emotions and behavior.


It’s the ability to do what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like it.


It means saying no to the less important things, so you can say yes to what really matters.


Being disciplined means being outside of your comfort zone often.


And this is why discipline is more important than motivation.


You will not always feel motivated and at your best. We all have off days and those days when we don’t feel like doing much.


This is where discipline takes over and is paramount to your success.


How to develop discipline:

  • Remove temptations and distractions

  • Focus on building positive habits

  • Develop a system or routine to follow

  • Learn to embrace and tolerate discomfort

  • Keep your word and promises to yourself and others

  • Start small and keep building on your efforts

  • Write your goals down ever morning and evening so they stay top of mind

  • Get accountability partners to help you stay on track

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