What Celine & Simone can teach us about overcoming challenges and building resilience

With the Olympics kicking off last week, I've been thinking a lot about overcoming challenges and building resilience, especially with the world watching.  

Did you catch the breathtaking performance from Celine Dion? When I watched it, I was BLOWN away, but when I learned more about her story and what she was dealing with, I felt deeply for her. 

For those of you who aren't familiar, Celine has been battling with a disease that causes muscle spasms that affect her daily life. To focus on her health, she had to publicly share that she was cancelling her European tour, and you could tell how disappointed she was to share with her fans. 

Simone Biles, the GOAT of gymnastics, announced she was pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics due to “twisties” in the air. Since then, she shared that moment made her feel like a failure and had to go through therapy to get help dealing with it all.  

These women not only had to deal with hardships and challenges but had to tell EVERYONE about it.  

Since sharing my personal story on social media, I can get in my head: "What if I fail and everyone who follows me is watching? What will they think?" 

But hearing how they have to put themselves out there in front of the world makes my problems feel a lot smaller.  

It also gives me hope because they came back even stronger, despite what people thought or said about them. 

In one of Celine's interviews, she talks about how she would come back on stage to sing, even if she had to crawl.  

After Simone dropped out, she was criticized for it but kept working on her mental health and got back in the gym. 

And while it might seem easy for superhuman Simone Biles or superstar Celine Dion to have resilience, we can cultivate resilience, too. 

How I build resilience

Accept the situation

To move forward, you have to first accept that it's happening to you. You didn't get the job. Your initial idea didn't work out. That's okay. It doesn't mean you're a failure. It just means you have to try something different. 

Put things in perspective

If Simone Biles can tell the world that she's dropping out of the Tokyo Olympics, we can do hard things, too. 

Be kind to yourself

It's easy for negative thoughts to creep in. Try to challenge those thoughts. For Simone, it might have looked like: “I'm letting America down” to “I'm proud of myself for putting my health first.” 

BELIEVE that you'll get to your goal

On a long enough time horizon, you can do practically anything. You just have to be patient and believe that you can do it. Sounds CRAZY, but belief is a big part in achieving what you set out to do. 

Create a support network

According to research by HBR, connections can help us become more resilient when we encounter major life or professional challenges. I'm building my support network of fellow entrepreneurs and people who are at a crossroards in life and career, and I thank you for being part of it!