As the three apparitions walked towards them, white from the snow and ice that clung to their clothing, what else could the whalers think of the arrival of three strangers to an isolated whaling station in Antarctica?

The story of Ernest Shackleton’s attempted crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea via the South Pole is one of failure to achieve his objective, yet also one of incredible resilience.

He sailed the ship Endurance, with a crew of 28 to Antarctica in 1914 before becoming trapped in pack ice in January 1915. The ship’s hull was cracked by the ice and the crew abandoned ship in October. They camped on the ice until March 1916.

At that point Shackleton and five other sailors took to a boat The James Caird and sailed for five days in hurricane winds before reaching solid ground. This was the first time they had stood on solid ground for 497 days.

They were still separated from the whaling station by over 30km of ice mountains. Shackleton and two others made the trek to the station and began the rescue of the rest of the crew.

The amazing thing is that in spite of this ordeal, not one crew member lost his life.
The resilience required by the crew of the Endurance was far greater than just about anything you will face on the sporting field, business or your own lives. It is still a key attribute for success in just about anything.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks, adversity, pain and disappointment. As these are things we all face from time to time, here are some ideas for improving your resilience.

• Focus on the task immediately in front of you. What is the next step? Regardless of how small it is, take it. This will help establish a momentum to move you forward.
• Don’t dwell on negative emotions. Doing so will prevent you from taking the first step toward improving your situation.
• Understand what you are feeling (awareness).
• View setbacks as challenges – learn from them, overcoming them will increase mental strength.
• Decide to let go of mistakes quickly. What will you do next?

The lines from the poem If, by Rudyard Kipling typify the resilient spirit.

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

To read the entire poem, click here.