"Fall Down Seven, Stand Up Eight": How do people persist despite setbacks?

“How do people persist despite setbacks?”  This is a question I have been asking myself recently.

I think we can learn a lot from athletes.  Last semester, while I was rowing in the provincial race, my seat fell off the track and stopped four times.  It wrecked my performance and the performance of our eight boat but I quickly took the seat off the track four times and put it back on and continued rowing.  I didn't even think for a second to stop rowing, quit, and not finish the race.

I learned a lot from this competition and many other experiences over my athletic journey .  No matter how hard you try to control life and practice for the perfect race or game (in sport and in life), things can go wrong.   As much as you try to control it, you can never control the actions of others and the environment around you.  The aspect you can control, however, is how you react to the situation (i.e., your attitude).

Look at the video of  this athlete who clearly isn't letting any setback or fall stop her from running her race.  Her perseverance and determination are to be admired.

She would be a compleltely different person if she had not gotten back up and ran the race. Over my experience in sport, I have seen many athletes like her who continue to push themselves and have seen many give up for one reason or another (i.e., mental, physical, or administrative).

The question I'm very interested in is: How do we teach people to keep going despite obstacles and to become mentally strong? Therefore, how do we prevent people from giving up? Can people be motivated to not give up? Is resilience something that is genetic or can it be taught?

Any advice/personal experiences from athletes out there would be appreciated :)

I think mental toughness and resilience are important to be taught as they are useful characteristics to have to help cope with the difficult events that occur in an individual's life.

Thank you for reading and your presence at this beach retreat. You Rock! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comment section below.

See you at the beach!