Aspire to Be Inspired: Find the Inspiration to Carry On

Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash

What drives us? Where do we find the inspiration to push through despite the hurdles? This is a question posed by many philosophers to try and understand what drives us as humans. We inevitably face many problems and hurdles in life. Books like Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times remind us of the importance of resilience as we push through the hardships. Part of building resilience means knowing where to ground ourselves, which is why we need to find the inspiration on which we will ground ourselves on.

Why Is It Important to Find the Inspiration to Push Through the Hurdles?

In our world, filled with many temptations to drop everything and give up, inspiration plays a vital role in helping us push through the hurdles. Having inspiration gives us reason to push through and grounds us on what we view to be important and why giving up should not be the option or should be used as the very last resort.

How Do We Find the Inspiration to Carry On

Man Carrying A Large Boulder

Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash

Finding inspiration does not necessarily mean something extraordinary. It is found deep within ourselves and can be done by anyone. This means that finding the inspiration to push through the hurdles is innate—everyone can do it, not just those select few overachievers or type A personality types.

Understand Your Motivation

What is it that motivates you? Is it getting money out of it? Is it the glory? Is it because you want to help others? This is key to finding the actual thing that grounds you – your passion. This is because your passion innately motivates you.

Psychologically speaking, this is what turns your work into play – something that makes it something difficult more worthwhile and find it worth doing despite the hurdles. However, it is difficult to find the inspiration because we are also asked what truly makes us happy. Testing what makes us happy takes a lot of time and experience.

Some still easily give up after taking this path, and understanding inspires them. If this happens to you, ask yourself: Were your intentions selfish? More often than not, having selfish intentions and inspirations that are self-serving only brings a temporary sense of happiness. Having goood and selfless intentions help you reach a level of fulfillment and self-actualization to feel that you are important, worthy, or have made a difference in society. In this case, you should probably redirect your inspiration to something that is more selfless and helps you give a lasting impression of happiness and fulfillment with your life.

Know Your Passions

What do you enjoy? Knowing this helps you pinpoint your goals and incorporate them as much as possible into your life. Each person has a passion and can achieve the best of both worlds when trying to achieve something.

For example, you may love singing and making music. If so, you can make this your main job in the future and be assured that no matter what hurdles you face in the music industry, you will do your best to push through and continue.

However, not everyone will always have this privilege. There are times when what you love or what you are working on does not go together. Finding a time of the week to do this despite your busy schedule can be a way for you to do this. For example, setting aside your Saturday nights to bake and try out new recipes would help you keep motivated and find the inspiration to carry on and push through the hurdles.

Learn the Stories of Others

Sometimes, we do not find our passions and motivations right away. This takes some degree of self-reflection and experimenting on what motivates us. Because of this, learning from others about what inspires them or makes them happy plays a significant role in finding what truly grounds us. It also helps us understand how others can push through and overcome the hurdles they have gone through. Interested in finding books like these? Purchase Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times to learn more about overcoming adversities.

Youth Thriving: The 7 C’s of Resilience for Young Adults

by | Feb 28, 2025 | Self-Help | 0 comments

a photo of four people embodying the 7 c’s of resilience and thriving in life

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

The 7 C’s of resilience is a critical concept that everyone should embody, yet it’s something that’s primarily overlooked. As a skill, resilience is perceived as natural and inherent in everyone—it’s embedded deep within the human DNA. Thus, there should be no need to pay close attention to it.

Wrong.

While resilience is a natural instinct present in everyone, a companion to their desire for survival, it is still considered a skill that requires development. Like riding a bike, resilience needs practice. People need to observe behaviors and develop correlated skills should they wish to strengthen how they cope in life. In a world where conflict and challenges may arise from mostly anything, what are the basic 7 C’s of resilience to help people cope?

How Does Building Resilience Help?

In Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times, Dr. Ric Vandett recounts the numerous challenges and immense helplessness people are bound to face as they pursue happiness in life. Throughout these, the author highlights the one thing that will help people power through: resilience.

Resilience isn’t the glorified concept of humanity rising from the ashes to continue fighting onwards. It’s not even the absence of difficulty and the feeling of being troubled by circumstances. Instead, it’s the process of embracing these circumstances through self-trust and confidence to recover.

Resilience isn’t invulnerability. It’s learning to benefit from vulnerability.

As Dr. Ric Vandett reflects in his book, resilience is a powerful tool that changes everything in life. However, most young adults may already start feeling helpless the moment they experience failure. They struggle to cope with adversity, and this is a very debilitating state. But here’s the good news: resilience can be taught and sharpened, starting by learning the 7 C’s of resilience.

What Are the 7 Learnable Skills of Resilience?

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg first identified the 7 C’s of resilience as the principles for helping people foster adaptability through adversity. By applying these 7 C’s of resilience, people are expected to better navigate life’s challenges with fortitude and a renewed sense of self-trust.

Resilience builds when people trust and harness their inner strength, helping them develop strategies that weather life’s adversities.

Confidence: A Strong Sense of Self

Confidence is the most vital ingredient in the 7 C’s of resilience. After all, people can only stand back up after troubles if they believe they can succeed. Confidence in resilience is measured by people’s belief in their abilities. It comes with the trust that regardless of what they face, people can overcome obstacles because of their strengths.

By celebrating these small wins, people learn to cultivate a more positive self-image, which will bolster their resilience with unwavering self-assurance.

Competence: The Skills to Navigate Life

One way to bounce back after stumbling down is to learn how to face similar situations better. People don’t simply learn their strengths if they don’t go through different experiences. This means they must embrace a growth mindset and ready themselves to seize opportunities that push their boundaries. Life has ample of those, and to become more competent, people are encouraged to experience more of them.

Connection: Relationships for Support

Humans are social beings, and a strong sense of connection with others is one of the most crucial ingredients in the 7 C’s of resilience. Surrounding oneself with friends and family—people to foster healthy relationships with—helps people better empathize and understand themselves, especially during hard times. With a healthy social environment, people are likewise exposed to different perspectives, which will teach different coping strategies.

Character: True to One’s Values

Resilient people have strong character integrity. This is one of the basic foundations, the most important aspect in the 7 C’s of resilience. When people have an established and strong compass to guide their decisions, they’re geared to take better actions, especially in dire circumstances. Developing a strong character requires people to introspect and understand their core values, which can help align their actions with these.

A photo of someone holding a compass | Photo by Arijit M on Unsplash

Contribution: Purpose to Build Resilience

One reason people don’t easily give up is that they have enough motivation to continue. Hence, finding purpose in life through contribution is one of the most crucial ingredients in the 7 C’s of resilience. When people engage in activities for a more significant reason than their personal needs, resilience is nurtured by reinforcing self-fulfillment.

Coping: Better manage Stress

To become more resilient, people should know how to handle their negative experiences better. This means they should learn more coping strategies to help them better handle challenges. These mechanisms are essential for resilience and promoting emotional and mental well-being.

To develop better coping mechanisms, people should open themselves to more activities like mindfulness, therapy, journaling, or other hobbies that bring them joy and distract them.

Control: Take Charge in Life

Nobody has power over one’s life other than oneself. Knowing what aspects of life one has control over empowers one to respond effectively. By identifying these, people’s resources are better spent finding solutions that work and not worrying about things beyond one’s power. Control within the sense of the 7 C’s of resilience means adapting people’s mindsets and adjusting their actions when faced with challenges.

Applying the 7 C’s of Resilience in Life

It’s important to apply the 7 C’s of resilience in life to foster resilience and enhance people’s ability to navigate challenges. When conflicts are ever-present in life, it’s essential that people know healthy ways to cope and overcome them. Whether it’s in children or young adults, instilling these 7 C’s of resilience must start now, for there’s no better time to emerge stronger and wiser.

To start your growth journey, grab a copy of Dr. Ric Vandett’s book and read how the author has defined resilience and his step-by-step guide to developing it.

Ric Vandett

Ric Vandett

I'm Dr. Ric Vandett, a retired educator with a 34-year career, including roles as Superintendent and teacher. I hold degrees from Appalachian State and Columbia Universities. I'm a Vietnam War veteran and active in community service.

Aspire to Be Inspired: Find the Inspiration to Carry On

Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash

What drives us? Where do we find the inspiration to push through despite the hurdles? This is a question posed by many philosophers to try and understand what drives us as humans. We inevitably face many problems and hurdles in life. Books like Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times remind us of the importance of resilience as we push through the hardships. Part of building resilience means knowing where to ground ourselves, which is why we need to find the inspiration on which we will ground ourselves on.

Why Is It Important to Find the Inspiration to Push Through the Hurdles?

In our world, filled with many temptations to drop everything and give up, inspiration plays a vital role in helping us push through the hurdles. Having inspiration gives us reason to push through and grounds us on what we view to be important and why giving up should not be the option or should be used as the very last resort.

How Do We Find the Inspiration to Carry On

Man Carrying A Large Boulder

Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash

Finding inspiration does not necessarily mean something extraordinary. It is found deep within ourselves and can be done by anyone. This means that finding the inspiration to push through the hurdles is innate—everyone can do it, not just those select few overachievers or type A personality types.

Understand Your Motivation

What is it that motivates you? Is it getting money out of it? Is it the glory? Is it because you want to help others? This is key to finding the actual thing that grounds you – your passion. This is because your passion innately motivates you.

Psychologically speaking, this is what turns your work into play – something that makes it something difficult more worthwhile and find it worth doing despite the hurdles. However, it is difficult to find the inspiration because we are also asked what truly makes us happy. Testing what makes us happy takes a lot of time and experience.

Some still easily give up after taking this path, and understanding inspires them. If this happens to you, ask yourself: Were your intentions selfish? More often than not, having selfish intentions and inspirations that are self-serving only brings a temporary sense of happiness. Having goood and selfless intentions help you reach a level of fulfillment and self-actualization to feel that you are important, worthy, or have made a difference in society. In this case, you should probably redirect your inspiration to something that is more selfless and helps you give a lasting impression of happiness and fulfillment with your life.

Know Your Passions

What do you enjoy? Knowing this helps you pinpoint your goals and incorporate them as much as possible into your life. Each person has a passion and can achieve the best of both worlds when trying to achieve something.

For example, you may love singing and making music. If so, you can make this your main job in the future and be assured that no matter what hurdles you face in the music industry, you will do your best to push through and continue.

However, not everyone will always have this privilege. There are times when what you love or what you are working on does not go together. Finding a time of the week to do this despite your busy schedule can be a way for you to do this. For example, setting aside your Saturday nights to bake and try out new recipes would help you keep motivated and find the inspiration to carry on and push through the hurdles.

Learn the Stories of Others

Sometimes, we do not find our passions and motivations right away. This takes some degree of self-reflection and experimenting on what motivates us. Because of this, learning from others about what inspires them or makes them happy plays a significant role in finding what truly grounds us. It also helps us understand how others can push through and overcome the hurdles they have gone through. Interested in finding books like these? Purchase Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times to learn more about overcoming adversities.

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