It seemed the right thing to do ahead of diving straight into the ‘silly season’, and in this time of incredible love and hate, confidence and fear, fake news and alternative truths, to hear shared voices of optimism. SO asked the question: What’s your take on optimism?

I have always considered myself a fighter… a fighter to win… excel through my studies…my career … my ideals of what life should be. It has taken many spills, falls, defeats and life learnings to evolve not only my thinking but my innate belief that it’s not about fighting but having the resilience to continue to believe. A belief that there are always opportunities to do better, be better and make a positive contribution to the world.

As I have progressed on my journey through this life, I have learnt that resilience and my ability to leverage ‘badmind’ as a fuel and not a deterrent has been the driving force to my success. Tell me that I can’t do something and I will do everything in my power to not only do it but do it well. One of my favourite quotes is “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds” (Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos). Even though I am still driven by this motto, it’s now coming from an internal need, not one driven by external parties but one where I inherently compete with myself. A competition steeped in being a better person who chooses to focus on impacting the world for a better tomorrow. Bad mind did serve its purpose though, its forces you to look in the mirror and embrace the future by being courageous.

Here are my top eight tips to build personal resilience (note: I am not great at all of these all of the time but I work on them every day):

1 Develop realistic goals driven by a sense of purpose — Life should not be about self alone but self-impacting the greater good. Once you see life through these lens, you are able to focus and be completely unbothered by the distractions of the naysayers

2 Treat problems and failures as life lessons — I know it’s easier said than done but you have been through worse; deal with the pain… come out on the other side… learn from it and move on. Takes a lot of practice to master

3 Develop good habits & routines that allow you to run like a well-oiled machine- I cannot leave my house without making my bed. It’s the first thing I do when I get up. My father insisted I do this as a child and as an adult what it did for me was create discipline and a need for order. I would have loved military life. Other great routines/ habits are starting my day off with prayer, gym and of course my first conversation after God is my mom

4 Exercise self-care — If you don’t take care of you no one will. I’m a firm believer in Nasha days…Nasha moments…Nasha vacations…and at the end of the month, I always pay myself first

5 Celebrate successes — We go so fast in life that we forget to appreciate the wins. Spend the same amount of time celebrating successes like you would have done dwelling on your failures

6 Do more soul-satisfying things — Volunteer more, be a mentor and make a conscious effort to pass on positivity. #payitforward

7 Who is your village? – Surround yourself with the people who love you and appreciate you. My village is awesome; they are the people who tell me the truth because they love me and they are there for everything…the good, the bad, and the ugly

8 Love you despite the flaws and faults because you were put here on this Earth for a purpose.

In a time where we are bombarded by negativity and drama, it’s resilience, courage and optimism that get us through it. Choose to live free of ‘badmind’ by actively evolving your thinking to always see, be and receive the light.