In the true-life story of Chris Gardner, actor Will Smith portrays the absolute pain of rejection Gardner experienced in almost everything he tried. As a homeless single father, soon resorting to sleeping nights in an in-demand homeless shelter, he had every excuse to give-up. He didn’t have much but thank goodness he did have resilience.
Romans-5 in the Bible says:
‘Be glad when challenges come before you. Because challenges develop persistence and persistence develops character and character develops ‘Hope’.
Think of your challenges as a game of monopoly or a test. Rather than considering giving-up, look for ways to overcome, to adapt, divert, re-route. Look at your challenges as a ‘work-out’ to develop your character.
Many successful entrepreneurs have this sort of character. Where others see problems, they instead see opportunities to be solved. The benefits of developing a resilient and persistent character can easily be related to your exercise goals – like the New Years resolution of weight-loss. When the actual effort begins, following through becomes a true test of character, persistence and stick-ability. Your first four weeks are always the hardest. But if you can press-on and overcome this, the rewards are great.
Be inspired by looking up the movie, The Pursuit of Happiness.
