Resilience isn’t about never stumbling. It’s about what we do when we do.

Everyone makes mistakes, missteps, or decisions they wish they could rewind. Sometimes it’s a small oversight, sometimes it feels like a gut punch. In the moment, especially if others are watching or amplifying the situation, it can feel overwhelming. Embarrassment, self-doubt, and the weight of “what will people think” can make it hard to see past the immediate moment.

But resilience is the ability to take that moment, pause, and decide how you’ll move forward.

Take a Breath

The first step is simple but powerful: breathe. It allows perspective to return. Without it, it’s easy to catastrophise, replay the mistake endlessly, or let it grow larger in our minds than it truly is.

Take Accountability

Resilience doesn’t mean brushing mistakes under the rug. In fact, moving on too quickly can look like avoidance. Sometimes it means acknowledging the mistake, even publicly if the situation calls for it, and owning it. Accountability builds trust and prevents the narrative from being written for you.

Take Perspective

If this same mistake was part of your story five years from now, how would you tell it? Likely not as a catastrophe, but as a turning point, a lesson, or maybe even something you’d laugh about. Framing it that way in the present can reduce its power over you.

Take Action

Resilience isn’t only about reflection; it’s about movement. After owning the moment, the most important step is planning the way forward. A clear plan shifts focus from the mistake itself to the growth and outcomes that follow.

Mistakes are part of being human. They don’t define you, how you handle them does. Resilience isn’t pretending everything is fine, but acknowledging the fall, taking responsibility, regaining perspective, and rising stronger with a plan in hand.