9. ‘Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead,’ by Brené Brown, PhD
Five years after her talk about vulnerability took the TED stage by storm (41 million views and counting), Brené Brown’s popularity continues to grow. It is thanks in part to her new Netflix show ella, The Call to Couragebut also because she’s just so sensitive, especially when it comes to talking about issues like courage, shame, and worthiness.
In Rising StrongDr. Brown takes the position that the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy is vulnerability.
Living a “brave” life, however, is not easy, and stumbling and falling is inevitable, she says. It’s rising and becoming resilient that allows us to move forward.
During her more than 20 years as a university researcher, Brown has listened to CEOs, veterans and active-duty military, teachers, and parents talk about falling down and getting back up. She realized they all had one thing in common: They weren’t afraid to read into their discomfort, convincing Brown that a critical component of resilience is spirituality.
10. ‘Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope,’ by Mark Manson
This book examines the concept of resilience by looking at the roots of our collective unhappiness. “You build resilience through experiencing difficulty and challenges,” Mark Manson says.
So what can we do about it?
In Everything Is F*ckedManson offers pragmatic, no-holds-barred advice about how to just “get over it” — the “it” being whatever is troubling you — by connecting with the world in ways you might not have considered.
Manson writes about the problem of loneliness in America, and how the “social connective tissue in the country is being destroyed by the overabundance of amusements.” He says the only way to be free is through self-limitation, or in other words, figuring out what (or who) you can cut out of your life so you can focus your attention on the things that really matter to you.
11. ‘Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption,’ by Laura Hillenbrand
Unbroken is the outlier on this list. It’s not a self-help or how-to book, but rather the story of a man whose very life was a testimony to resilience.
Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini, a young US Army bomber who in 1943 crashed into the Pacific Ocean and was then captured and held as a Japanese prisoner of war. He had already developed resilience growing up the child of poor immigrants in Los Angeles, where he was often in trouble for stealing, smoking, and drinking. To keep him out of trouble, his older brother got Zamperini involved with their high school track team. Zamperini went on to run in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, before enlisting in the Army.
Zamperini was held for more than two years, during which he was starved and endured near-daily beatings at the hands of his guards. When he was finally released, in 1945, Zamperini returned home, but suffered from PTSD and developed a drinking problem. He finally began to heal in 1949 after he heard a sermon by the evangelical preacher Billy Graham. He became a Christian, and even returned to Japan and met some of his former captors.
Most of us will never share Zamperini’s specific experiences (fortunately), but reading his story can help us develop self-compassion — a key to building resilience. “We realize as we read that our struggles aren’t unique. Difficulties are part of life, as is overcoming them,” Gillihan says. “And just as we can’t avoid suffering, we can also count on finding the strength we’ll need to face it.”
Unbroken is one man’s story, but it is filled with lessons on how to live a fulfilling life, even following unspeakable horrors.
12. ‘Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela,’ by Nelson Mandela
It is impossible not to be moved and inspired by Nelson Mandela’s autobiography — Long Walk to Freedom personifies the concept of resilience. He spent more than 25 years in prison for alleged treason and sabotage, and when finally released, he chose to move forward with grace and forgiveness rather than bitterness. He is one of the most courageous political leaders in the modern era, and his fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country.
Mandela’s story is one of desperate struggle and setback, followed by hope and triumph.
Additional reporting by Lauren Bedosky.
