I'm changing course today and recommending a book, the first sentence of which is:
How many times in the last week have you said to yourself, "I can't take this stress anymore," or "Why do I keep overreacting to such little things," or even "Is this all there is to life?"
I was compelled to read this book a few months ago after admitting to a lifelong tendency to give up when the going gets tough. For as long as I could remember, I had backed down from challenges and relied on other people to fix my problems. My mother always told me I was "flying by the seat of my pants"...and that it would eventually catch up with me. When it finally did (thanks Mom), I realized I'd been a self-reliant member of the workforce for too long to be acting like a child. Those habits were no longer working for me. If I was going to be successful -- at anything -- I had to build my resilience.
Resilience is defined as the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. A resilient person knows how to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start all over again.* Some people are born resilient, and others have to work at it. I fall into the latter category. And that's why I'm recommending this book, The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life's Hurdles.
This book will help you build self-awareness, especially around your perception of adversity. You will gain insight into what you're doing, why you're doing it, and most importantly, how you can do it differently. I have practiced many of the exercises in this book when faced with a challenge, and they really do help. You will also read inspiring stories of resilient people who thrive where most people would fail.
This is a great resource for people with ADD and those of us without ADD who want to build their inner strength.
The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life's Hurdles
*Jerome Kern song from 1936 that also features the line: Nice teacher, teach me something, I'm as awkward as a camel.
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