Imagine a time when you’ve received not-so-good feedback from a colleague, made a pretty big mistake at work, or got rejected from the promotion you were going for. How did you respond? You could either take these moments as proof you aren’t good enough or take them as simple setbacks that can’t and shouldn’t stop you.

It’s common for women to struggle with self-confidence when faced with setbacks in their careers. Many women already believe they are being judged as inferior or unfit, which is why resilience is so important for them to be able to succeed. In fact, your future success depends on how you respond to current moments. If you take the setbacks as a sign you “aren’t cut out for this” then that’s likely to stop you from moving forward.

“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right!” -Henry Ford

The mind can be extremely powerful in creating our realities. Building resilience means being able to control what we can and accepting what we can’t with a path forward. I emphasize “with a path forward” because acceptance doesn’t mean helplessness. Just because things “are the way they are” doesn’t mean you don’t have the ability to change your reality.

Most times, the only thing we really have control over is our mindset and how we react to any given situation. Some important building blocks of resilience are positive emotion, engagement, relationships, and accomplishment. Positive emotion is the understanding that there is some benefit from the situation, engagement is how you react or respond, accomplishment is knowing this was an important experience for your growth, and relationships are the people who support you in your journey.

Of course, building resilience without support isn’t easy. We each have a limited arsenal of mindset-building tools needed for a resilient mind, which is why collaboration is so helpful in acquiring insight.

Women who are able to be resilient to feedback, mistakes, and setbacks and take the lessons to improve are more likely to come out on top. So, how is your response? What kind of shifts can you make in your reactions to make these situations progressive?

If you are a woman leader who is needing support in building a resilient mindset needed to effectively position for promotion, pivot, or transition, schedule your confidential 15-minute chat with me and my team.