10 Rules for Resilience: Mental Toughness for Families

10 principles for cultivating True Resilience from the bestselling author of Spartan Up and the CEO/founder of Spartan.

From his childhood in Queens, New York, to his role as founder and CEO of the most grueling endurance races in the world, Joe De Sena has spent his life running toward challenge and discomfort. Why? Because how we react to challenging situations defines us and our families. The only tools we have as humans to survive the many peaks and valleys of a full life are preparedness, health, leadership, and most importantly, resilience. Why do so many of us struggle to finish things we start, delay gratification, and protect our health—and why do our kids continue to struggle in every facet of life? Because we haven’t showed them a path to resilience, and we haven’t fought for it ourselves.  

In 10 Rules for Resilience he outlines 10 principles for building True Resilience—a term he uses for a body and mind that have been carved out of hard work, challenge, and failure. It takes True Resilience to approach overwhelming situations with calm and confidence, to not get rattled, anxious, or angry, and even to embrace failure, setbacks, and redirections. In this, his most timely and motivating book yet, Joe defines what so many of us struggle to understand: the difference between what is difficult and what is desperate. We wrongly think that when we struggle, we are vulnerable. The truth? We need difficult situations to grow, become strong, and ultimately, survive and thrive in the real world. Not giving ourselves and our kids the ongoing gift of challenge, failure, and hard work is to deprive ourselves of one the most satisfying and rewarding parts of the human experience—the strength to stand back up again after we fall.