Last year could have destroyed me. Instead it made me better.

Last year could have destroyed me. Instead it caused explosive growth.  

In public view, hundreds of new people connected with Neon Leadership, we’ve helped even more leaders to live with purpose and increase their impact. We have strengthened personal and professional relationships, developed our one-for-one tree planting program.  

Neon Leadership has been hired by even more wonderful new clients, we have grown our team and we’ve set the scene for even bigger growth opportunities ahead. 

Meanwhile…  

behind the scenes there was unexpected financial pressure, giant business curve balls, a barrage of personal health challenges, loss and grief - both of my grandparents passed away within 18 months of each other – and the mental health pressure all of this carried with it.  

That’s just a flavour. Tough is an understatement.  

But going through a year like this and coming out stronger isn’t luck. It’s been years in the making. 

Here’s how I did it… 

7 Personal lessons that make resilience training real  

1) Stay balanced. It’s hard to stay positive all the time when facing big challenges, but you can stay calm.  

Keeping disciplined and focussed on my circle of control was essential. LOTS happened outside of my control, and I paid very little attention to it. Instead my energy went into managing my response and doing what I could do to shape the outcome.  

2) Adaptability to match uncertainty. I have learned mental models to help problem-solve, strategise and make decisions under pressure.  

If I have a super-power, it’s also my ability to never give up. As the saying goes “If you’re going through hell, just keep going.” 

3) Money Moats. I’ve established investments that make money while I sleep. I have very low debt and big financial buffers (I call them Money Moats). For the most part, my money takes care of itself. It’s just one less thing to stress about. A key insight from my own resilience training journey. 

Author and entrepreneur, Naval Ravikant often says, “Money doesn’t solve all of your problems, but it does solve your money problems.” 

4) Get support. I spoke to close friends about the challenges, and invested in key friendships through the year. I actively grew my circle of friends and the size and quality of my network. Part of effective resilience training is knowing when to lean on others. 

5) Live healthy. I focussed hard on nutrition, minimised alcohol consumption, worked on improving my sleep. I improved my exercise habits to boost my energy and improve my strength and mobility.  

6) Staying true to your values. Every time I faced a setback, I focussed on gratitude and my life mission. I processed grief through a sense of connection to something bigger. Maintaining gratitude and perspective is essential in tough times. 

7) Growth through adversity. Every tough challenge has all the ingredients of growth embedded in it. Every set back is an opportunity to work on your problem solving, creativity, self-leadership and your strength of character. 

In the long run, these traits will give you increased confidence to pursue bigger and brighter goals, and that will serve you better than an easy life. 

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If I look for something to be grateful for (I always do), it’s that last year gave me an opportunity to test my resilience plan to the limit, and it didn’t let me down. 

Ultimately, what could have been a crushing 12 months ended on a high. 

The 7 domains of resilience we cover in all our Leading with Resilience training program, gave me a solid framework to weather the storms and come back better. 

Perspective, Resourcefulness, People, Money, Vitality, Progress and Purpose. It’s all in there. 

After a year like this I am even more happy I didn’t leave my resilience up to chance (I hate to think what would have happened if I had). Helping other people to discover the same feelings of confidence, peace and freedom is now central to my mission and the work we do at Neon Leadership.  

How confident are you that you have an unshakeable resilience plan in place?  

And how confident are you that you have the skills to help others in your organisation to develop the same? 

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FYI - If you would like to know how to turn tough times to your advantage and maximise your potential in the good times, then try our Leading with Resilience training. 

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