Resilience is often treated like a personality trait. You either have it or you don’t. But Valorie Burton sees it differently: Resilience is a personal system you can build before life demands it from you.

In this episode, Jay Papasan sits down with Valorie Burton, CEO of the Coaching and Positive Psychology Institute and author of Rules of Resilience, to unpack what it really takes to bounce back. They talk about the three parts of resilience: adaptive skills, protective resources, and preventive choices. They also dig into why leaders need to expect the unexpected, close their growth gaps, control the controllable, and choose thoughts that strengthen them.

This conversation is a practical reminder that challenges are not just something to survive. They are opportunities to grow through, learn from, and use to become the person your goals require.

Challenge of the Week:

Set aside 30 minutes and ask yourself: What is the opportunity in the challenge I’m facing right now? It could be an opportunity to grow in patience, leadership, communication, courage, consistency, or self-trust. Don’t just go through the challenge. Grow through it.

***

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods.

We talk about:

[00:00] Resilience As A System

[05:32] Expect the Unexpected

[9:07] Close the Growth Gap Holding You Back

[15:32] Control What You Can

[25:10] Your Weekly Challenge

Links & Tools from This Episode:

Rules of Resilience by Valorie Burton

Valorie Burton’s Website

Valorie Burton’s Resilience Assessment

Free Resources

Produced by NOVA