I recently finished reading Resilience: How to Restore and Keep Faith in Yourself and Your Business Idea by Fraser J. Hay and Elsabe Smit.

The book is dedicated to those who choose to pursue their dreams of self-employment. Its purpose is to help those people deal with the emotional issues that can arise from such ambitions. I decided to read this because I hoped to regain hope in what I have been doing. Not as someone starting out, but as someone feeling they have to restart their drive.

I wasn’t entirely comfortable with how the book was written. Parts of the book are based on previously published articles by Hay which are then followed by a chapter of comments on the article by Smit, sometimes questioning some of the points made by Hay. Other chapters are written as a dialogue between the authors. I also have problems with some of the concepts discussed, like the law of attraction, cosmic vibrations, and the different types of energies people can have.

At the end of each chapter there is an exercise or task for the reader to complete. Some involve reflecting on what the content means to you, some encourage you to apply what has been taught.

You may have come across some of the advice before, some may be new to you.

• Find something you enjoy doing and you’ll work all the hours of the day to make it work.
• Your focus away from just making money will diminish any poverty consciousness you may have.
• Start respecting and valuing what you have to offer.
• Stop, reflect on the learning that can be taken from your experiences of sucess and failure.
• When things don’t go according to plan it’s often because we are dealing with the symptoms of our thinking. It’s a case of cause and effect.
• You need to set new goals when you reach a plateau or become battle weary.

The authors also point out that venturing into a new business (or any business) is like venturing into an unexplored part of the world. What treasure could you find if you conquered the unexplored territory? There is a useful exercise at the end of one chapter where you list the unexplored territory, the obstacles or dangers that may lurk within, and the potential treasures you could obtain.

Later chapters deal with not looking back and seeing failure that you can blame on others. They also look at how to deal with fear of rejection, clients who owe money, and the advantages that can be taken from negative experiences.

Towards the end of the book the format becomes more like a journal. It takes some of the experiences and challenges Hay has been through in his coaching business and looks at the result of following the advice and adopting the perspectives he has been given by Smit.

As you might expect the book deals a lot with perspectives and mindset. Often feelings of failure come from expecting to get it right almost first time. There is no allowance for the possibility of being on a long path of improvement that eventually reaches your goal. If you learn how to improve you have not failed, you have moved further along the path to your goal. See events or people that challenge you as playing out a role in a sequence of events that will lead to growth and improvement. The secret is to have a mindset that helps you through challenging times.

Despite basing explanations on such questionable concepts as quantum vibrations and negative energy, the book does give some approaches worth considering. If you’re concerned about the emotional cost of starting a business or of getting through challenging times it may be worth a look.