Change is not always easy; in fact,for many of us change is downright difficult.Humans are creatures of habit.We like our world to be predictable, and we want to know to expext in our lives from moment to moment.

In today's world, however, change is part of life.It is now disturbingly common to hear of someone losing his or her job, facing a home foreclosure or breaking up with a love one.With all these negative changes, it is difficult to know what to do.When life hands you a bunch of lemons, doyou fall apart and spend months trying to recover, or are you a resilient lemonade-maker? Do you weather the ups and downs, only to come back stronger, or do you hide under a rock until the storm blows over? If you're not as strong as you'd like to be, don't worry; now is the perfect time to develop your resilience.

Resilient people are mentally tough.Think of them as you think of the Energizer bunny - someone who keeps going no matter what.Those who are resilient are able to address difficult situations while remaining cool, calm and collected. They are ready to seek solutions and get back on track rather than let disappointments deter them from what they want.But how can you develop this kind of strength and perseverance?

We can all learn to be more resilient and mentally tough. It's all about being in the ideal psychological, physical and emotional state to perform at peak levels. Performance is about how we go about our lives, how we behave, feel, think and do our jobs. Regardless of where we perform these functions and responsibilities, it is important to know how well we are doing and how we can improve or change.

By: Nancy O'Reilly