Resilience is a key survival trait, whether you’re an amoeba evolving in a competitive environment, or a broker on Wall Street. (Wait, those two things might not be all that different.) In essence, resilience is bouncing back rather than falling flat in the face of adversity and stress.

As an example: a University of Pennsylvania researcher studied the factors determining whether a West Point cadet succeeded or washed out during a brutal initiation process called “Beast Barracks.” The result was phenomenal. What made the biggest difference wasn’t SAT scores, physical aptitude, or even leadership potential. It was the cadet’s ranking on the “Grit Scale” measuring perseverance. If a cadet was even one standard deviation higher on the Grit Scale, they were 60% more likely to make it through Beast Barracks. This means that what proved most necessary for success wasn’t intelligence or physical scale, but pure mental toughness.

Good news: resilience isn’t a genetic trait, but a pattern of behavior and thinking that can be learned and practiced

Recognize and Manage Expectations

Especially when you’re going into a challenging situation, define what you rationally think are possible outcomes. Don’t even look for solutions yet. Just scope out the ways things could potentially realistically unfold so you feel prepared rather th