Watching from the bleachers, mom and dad cheered on their son who was running a 1600 meter race. It was hotter and more humid than usual. As the race began, they worried as their son seemed to uncharacteristically take off in the lead, getting off to a hot and fast start instead of his normal pacing and picking his moments.

Finishing the first lap, their son was easily ahead by several meters and looking strong. However, as they hit the halfway mark, he began to fall back to the pack, and very shortly thereafter, looked like he was struggling just to stay in the race. It looked like he had spent all of his energy too soon leaving nothing in the tank to finish the race. Dad looked down, feeling bad for his son. Mom, however, kept her head up, willing her son to compete. As the final lap began and with her son in dead last, she cheered even louder.

He must have felt it or maybe even somewhere in the background and blended in with his heart pumping and his ears thumping, heard her shouting for him. Somewhere he found more strength and with each stride he seemed to quickly make up ground. Halfway through the final lap he was in third place and gaining on the first and second place runners. As they rounded the final turn it was a three-way tie for first place. And finally winning by a step was their son, who somehow reached beyond his limits to not only finish the race when all seemed lost and over, but he had come back to win the race.

With one month left to go for the summer of 2023, we can make the argument that we are entering our final lap for the year as well. Fall will be here before we know it and the race towards the finish of the year will be on. For some it has been an incredible year already with a lot more good things ahead that will give us cause for celebration. And then on the other hand, some of us have had a pretty tough year personally, professionally, or maybe both, leaving us feeling like we have already given it everything we have and can’t possibly give any more.

This is where resiliency comes in. Resiliency is receiving a lot of attention these days as we seem to struggle, tolerate, and become challenged by the disruptions in our personal and professional lives. And many of the things that frustrate us the most, are things that are completely out of our hands. The thing is this though, we may feel like there are times where our hands are tied, and we cannot control an outcome or drive a result. Let’s challenge that thinking because when it comes to resiliency, we can dig deep beyond what we thought were our own limitations to either solve the problem or become a part of the team that does solve the problem.

Resiliency is indeed a strong and powerful word, garnering lots of attention from those who are motivating their team or their people, from those who are coaching their clients, students, or athletes, and from close friends and family members helping us to overcome a recent disruption or hardship. Many of us, if not most of us, even the strongest-willed people we know have something we refer to as a self-limiting belief system. This means that others see the resiliency and toughness in us even when we do not see it ourselves.

Just like the mom of our track star above, there is someone cheering you on, willing you to succeed. Our job is to receive that encouragement, hear our name being called out among the crowd, and to reach beyond what we think are our limitations to push forward towards victory. The encouragement is great, however we must own our resiliency and finish the race and the year strong.

Are you gearing up for a strong finish to 2023? Do you have the reserves in the tank to drive your resiliency? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can reach beyond our own self-doubt and self-limiting belief systems to overcome any challenge or disruption, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.