From time to time we all go off the rails.

We do something stupid, we say something we shouldn't have said - the question is how do we bounce back from something like that?

Over the years I have had more than my share of failures as well as successes and one of major things I have learned is that...

Just because you have failed, doesn't mean you are a failure.

Also just because you have achieved success doesn't make you a success either. Many people have hit bottom, only to climb out and achieve greatness and many people have done great things only to end up broke, alone and without any lasting feeling of accomplishment. Here's my take on this.

Success and failure are neutral concepts.

What makes either of them positive or negative in your life is not the event, the circumstance or the situation, but what you do with them along the path of life.

Nobody that I have ever met has had a life filled with nothing but success, or only one failure after another.

Resilience is our ability to keep coming back, again and again and again.

No matter how many times life throws you a curve or brings you to your knees, you try again -  you try something new, something different. You refuse to give up.

Here are a few ideas to consider when you're faced with adversity and feel like quitting. They've worked for me many times.
 
    1.    Remember this set back is only temporary. You will get past this - if you believe you will. Don't let it destroy you.
 
    2.    You probably need this experience so you can learn a valuable lesson. I've learned more - much more during times of adversity than I have during the good times in my life - and faster too.
 
    3.     Maybe you need this experience to be softened a little by life. Personally I have become a more compassionate person over the years as a result of some of the very humbling experiences I've had during times of adversity.
 
    4.     Perhaps you need it to give your life more integrity or character. Someone once said that if it doesn't kill you, you'll grow in character from every experience - I think that's very true.
 
     5.    Maybe you need it to rid yourself of some arrogance or ignorance. Sometimes in life we actually mistakenly believe that we are important - more important that others. No so!
 
     6.    Maybe you need it to grow in some area of your life. My businesses over the last 30 years has grown and changed most during times of adversity and so have I. As I look back, those challenging times were necessary to force me to change and move on to achieve greater things.
 
     7.   Perhaps it's a reminder to live in the present.   Yes it's important to plan for the future - but it's equally important to live in the moment. The present is all we really have, to spend time with those we love, and to do the things that are really important to us. We will never be able to live this day again.

     8.      Maybe you need this experience so you can learn to take life less seriously. When I was younger I was serious about everything. I was as serious as a heart attack - about achieving, about getting things done and when things went wrong I used to get upset. These days I have learned to laugh at myself more and not take myself as seriously. I'm more relaxed and I hope I'm more fun to be with these days.

I think I have demonstrated quite a bit of resilience during my life so far and I am certainly not an exceptional person. So if I can bounce back after I've been brought to my knees again and again, with challenges and disappointment, then you too, regardless of your current situation in life or circumstances can rise again.

All you have to do is reach inside and find the courage, strength, stamina, attitudes, self-belief and self-confidence to rekindle your desire for what you believe you can do, and you will do it. It's important to.

Hang on to your dreams.

No matter how big they might seem to you. And, don't let others convince you that you can't do it, won't do it or shouldn't do it.

Be true to yourself and your destiny. You have everything you need, right now, inside of you to carry on. All you have to do is do it.