Posted by “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love this quote. It cuts straight to the heart of what resilience actually is. Not the absence of struggle, but the strength of character you bring to it. In 2026, with the pace of change accelerating in every direction (economically, technologically, politically), the ability to stay grounded under pressure has never mattered more.
There are six things I believe you need to do when you’re facing a real struggle: get some perspective, take ownership, take stock of your resources, cut out the noise and focus your energy wisely, lean on the people around you, and treat the whole thing as a test. I’ve been in that situation myself, so I’m speaking from experience.
Let’s take a look at each one.
Is this as bad as it feels?
In November 1941, Coventry was bombed by the Luftwaffe. Five hundred and fifteen bombers flew over from Germany and obliterated the city. I bring this up not to trivialise whatever you might be going through, but to help you put it in perspective.
When we’re facing serious difficulty (financial pressure, a career crisis, a relationship breakdown) it’s easy to feel as though the entire world is ending. It isn’t. It’s a chapter, not the whole story.
Ask yourself honestly: does this challenge threaten my health, or the health of my loved ones? Has anyone died? If the answer is no, you’re in difficult territory, but you’re still in winnable territory. Things get better on the other side, I promise.
So check in with yourself: is the shock of the situation distorting your view of how serious it actually is?
Stop blaming. Start owning.
When things go wrong, humans are brilliant at finding someone else to blame. The economy, the government, the banks, the boss, the circumstances. And sometimes, if we’re honest, they’re not even wrong. External forces are real. Bad luck is real. Unfairness is real.
But blame keeps you stuck. When I went through my own financial collapse back in 2008, I spent a long time pointing the finger at the banks, the system, the people around me. I thought they were the reason I was in such a massive hole. While there was truth in some of that, it didn’t move me forward or help me solve my problems.
Blame puts you in victim mode. What I call ‘the warrior mindset’ is the moment you realise that nobody is coming to rescue you. That’s actually liberating, not frightening.
No matter how unfair the situation, the moment you say “This is mine to fix” is the moment your energy shifts from paralysis to action.
What do you actually still have?
When the banks pulled the plug on my finances in 2008, my automatic assumption was that everything was gone. In purely financial terms, a lot of it was. But I made a classic mistake: I confused a lack of money with a lack of resources.
Money is one resource. It’s not the only one, and it’s rarely the most important one. The bigger problem in any crisis isn’t usually a lack of resources. It’s a lack of resourcefulness.
Sit down and take a proper inventory. What do you still have? Your knowledge and expertise. Your network, the people you can pick up the phone and call. Your time. Your reputation. Your energy and creativity. These things don’t disappear when your bank balance does.
It’s especially relevant today. The tools available to someone with skills, drive and a laptop are extraordinary. If your industry is being disrupted by AI or automation, that same technology is also a lever you can use. Knowledge and adaptability are assets. Don’t write them off just because they don’t show up on your bank statement.
So ask yourself what you have that can’t be taken from you. The answer will move you forward.
Put down the phone, pick up your life
The volume of noise we’re all exposed to now is unlike anything in human history. News cycles that never stop. Social media algorithms that serve you the most emotionally charged content it can find. AI-generated slop that’s (at first glance at least) indistinguishable from real reporting.
Most of what you consume is outside your control. The economy. Geopolitical conflict. What politicians are or aren’t doing. None of it is something you can directly influence, and yet it drains your energy, spikes your cortisol, and keeps you in a state of low-grade anxiety that makes taking action harder.
When I was going through my hardest period, I stopped reading the newspapers and started doing burpees. Yes, it sounds too simple. But my health was something I could directly control. As it improved, so did my mindset. The news, meanwhile, would have continued regardless.
Ask yourself, honestly, about each thing you spend time worrying about: can you actually do anything about it? If the answer is no, it doesn’t deserve your attention. Redirect that energy to your mindset, your health, your relationships, your skills. Things that respond to effort.
Limit your intake of the information that leaves you feeling powerless. It’s not deliberately choosing ignorance, it’s strategic.
Don’t go it alone
The warrior mindset is real and important. But the image of a lone fighter pushing through on sheer willpower is only half the picture.
Some of my most difficult moments were made bearable by the right people showing up. Not to fix things for me, but to remind me that I wasn’t as isolated as I felt. Resilience isn’t just an internal resource: it’s also built through connection.
Think about the people in your life who give you energy rather than drain it. Who challenges you in a useful way? Who has been through something hard themselves and come out the other side? Those relationships aren’t a luxury: they’re part of your infrastructure.
Make contact and be willing to be honest about where you are. You’ll often find that the people you most admire have faced darker moments than you’d ever have guessed, and got through them.
Remember this is a test
My final thought on resilience: reframe the whole thing as a test, not a punishment.
Back in 2008, when everything was falling apart in Spain, someone told me: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I remember thinking it was the least helpful thing anyone had ever said to me. But they were right. I came out of that period (which lasted until 2013) wiser, sharper, and with a depth of understanding about business, money, and human nature that I simply couldn’t have acquired any other way.
We are the descendants of people who survived ice ages, famine, plague, and war, so remember that you’re more capable of enduring difficulty than you currently believe. The DNA of survivors runs through all of us.
When I’m going through something really difficult, I ask myself two questions: Am I worthy of this test? Am I going to beat it? The answer to both, every time, is yes.
As bad as something feels in the moment, you’ll get through it. Not only that, but you’ll be stronger, and wiser, on the other side.