Motivation requires a clear vision, courage, and persistence. And it takes resilience—not giving up or quitting when faced with difficulties and challenges. A resilient person maintains a positive attitude even when faced with difficult situations. Students who are resilient—who bounce back quickly from difficult situations—will be more successful in college and in life. They stay focused on achieving their purpose. Learning to keep going when things are hard is one of the most important lessons you’ll learn in this class.

There are many other terms that are used to describe resilience and determination. One of these terms is grit, a combination of perseverance, passion, and resilience. Psychologist Angela Duckworth has studied grit and has found that people who are “gritty” are more likely to be both academically and personally successful.² Another term that encompasses resilience comes from Finland: Sisu is a word that dates back hundreds of years and is described as being central to understanding Finnish culture. It means going beyond one’s mental or physical ability, taking action even when things are difficult, and displaying courage and determination in the face of challenge and repeated failures.

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Resilience is such an important concept in psychological health that the American Psychological Association has developed a list of resilience strategies: “10 Ways to Build Resilience.”³ These are as follows:

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There are other ways to deal with challenges and stressful situations. For example, some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people to build connections and restore hope.

Think about your own reactions to frustration and stress. Do you often give up because something is just too hard or because you can’t figure it out? Do you take responsibility for what you do, or do you blame others if you fail? For example, how have you reacted to receiving a D or F on a paper, losing a student government election, or getting rejected for a work-study job? Do you have trouble making connections with others in class?

Negative experiences might cause you to question whether you should be in college at all. Resilient students, though, look past negative experiences, learn from them, and try again. For instance, what could you do to improve your grade on your next paper? Perhaps you didn’t allow yourself enough time to do the necessary research. Why did someone else get the work-study job that you wanted? It’s possible that you need to work on your interview skills. How can you feel more comfortable in your classes? Maybe it would help to join a study group or go to the learning center. You were born with the ability to be resilient.

Many well-known and successful people overcame tough circumstances and failure. For instance, J. K. Rowling, the author of all the Harry Potter books, was divorced and penniless when she wrote the first Harry Potter book. That book was rejected by twelve publishers before it was finally accepted. Walt Disney’s first animation company went bankrupt, and he was fired by a news agency because he “lacked imagination.” Michael Jordan was cut by his high school basketball team. Jordan has been quoted as reporting that he missed 9,000 shots in his career. These people and many others did not let failure get in the way of their ultimate success.

So far in this chapter we have asked you to consider how thoughts and feelings affect behavior. We’ve discussed motivation, attitude, and resilience and have asked you to explore what motivates you, to think about your own attitude and how it helps or hurts you sometimes, and to reflect on whether you are able to bounce back from difficulty. These topics are part of a broader discussion of emotions, which we turn to next.

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