Careers rarely go in a straight line. If they did, it would be a lot more like a conveyor belt and a lot less like a roller coaster.

Life loves a curveball, and sometimes it feels like you’ve been hit with a whole bag of them at once. Whether it’s a career stumble, a project gone wrong, or that time your carefully crafted presentation crashed mid-meeting (we’ve all been there). But the difference between bouncing back and feeling like you’ve hit rock bottom is resilience. And the good news is, resilience is something you can build.

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Let's chat about some ways you can build up your resilience (without needing a life coach or self-help book the size of the Oxford dictionary)

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Acknowledge the wobble, then start to straighten up

When setbacks happen, it’s okay to feel a bit wobbly. You’re human, not a robot, and emotions are part of the deal. Give yourself permission to feel disappointed or frustrated, but don’t unpack and live there. When something goes wrong at work, it’s tempting to want to throw in the towel or blame yourself. But it’s okay to feel gutted for a minute (we all do), just don’t let it consume you. The key is to acknowledge the hit, dust yourself off, and start looking ahead.

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Learn, Don’t Linger

You didn’t get the promotion you were sure was yours. Your boss wasn’t thrilled with your latest presentation. It’s easy to let those things linger in your mind, replaying them on loop. But instead of beating yourself up, focus on what you can take away from it.

Maybe you can ask for feedback from your boss or colleague to figure out what didn’t quite hit the mark. Did you need more preparation? A different approach? It’s not about dwelling on what went wrong, but about getting better for the future.

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Control What You Can (And Let Go of the Rest)

Workplaces can sometimes feel like they’re run by Murphy’s Law - whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Sometimes things go wrong for reasons completely outside of your control, and trying to change those is like yelling at the weather to stop raining: annoying and ineffective. I Maybe the company downsizes, or a project gets canned because of budget cuts. These situations are frustrating, but you can't control them.

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Focus instead on the areas where you do have influence, like your attitude, your response, and your next move. If a project falls apart, you can’t undo that, but you can dive into the next one and show you’re resilient.

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Failures = Lessons in Disguise

This sounds like something a motivational poster would say, but hear me out. Setbacks at work often feel like failures, but they’re more like sneaky teachers. If you messed up on a project or didn’t meet expectations, it’s not the end of the world, it's an opportunity to get better.

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For example, maybe you missed a deadline because of poor time management. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s also a chance to improve your organisational skills and set clearer priorities in the future. The trick is seeing setbacks not as dead ends but as stepping stones.

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When you’re learning something new, you’re going to make mistakes. And those mistakes? They’re how you get better.

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Build a Strong Support Network

Resilience doesn’t mean doing everything solo. Resilient people know when to reach out for support. If you’re struggling after a career setback, talk to someone. Whether it’s a mentor, a trusted colleague, or even just a mate who says "Yeah, that sucks" or can offer some perspective, having a support system can make all the difference.

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A good venting session over coffee can do wonders for your mindset. And if you’re stuck on how to move forward, sometimes just hearing someone else’s take on things helps you see a way out of the fog.

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And if you’re thinking, “But I don’t want to burden anyone,” remember that they’d probably come to you, too, if the situation were reversed. We’re all in this together, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

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Strengthen Your Career “Resilience Muscle”

Resilience is like a muscle, the more you work it, the stronger it gets. Start by bouncing back from the small stuff: an email miscommunication, a tight deadline, or a client changing their mind last minute. These small challenges add up to a stronger sense of resilience over time.

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It’s a bit like going to the gym. You wouldn’t start by bench-pressing a ridiculous amount of weight without building up to that weight first (unless you're a bit of a spoon). You’d start small, work your way up, and eventually, those heavier weights don’t seem so impossible. The same goes for resilience in your career. You get stronger by getting up, facing challenges, and trying again.

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Keep Your Sense of Humour

Sometimes the best thing you can do in the face of a setback is laugh. Life is unpredictable, and if you can find the humour in a tough situation, you’re already winning. There's no avoiding stress at work, but keeping your sense of humour can help you maintain perspective. After all, most setbacks aren’t permanent disasters, even if they feel like it in the moment.

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Sure, some things that happen can be cringe-worthy at the time, but later? It’s one of those stories you’ll laugh about (and maybe bond with colleagues over). Finding the humour in a tough situation reminds you that no single work event defines your entire career. You’ll bounce back.

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Setbacks in your career are inevitable, but how you respond to them is what counts.