Strengthening your inner resolve is essential to overcoming challenges so you don’t give up and achieve your goals. In this article, I’ll uncover actionable strategies to help you build resilience, stay focused, and navigate the inevitable obstacles that come your way. Whether it’s learning from past experiences, anchoring your goals to deeper values, or staying accountable to your commitments, these practices will empower you to tackle life’s demands with confidence and purpose so you can answer the call to greatness.

Remember How Yesterday’s Obstacles Strengthen Your Resolve for Today’s Challenges

As a CEO, mom, and beauty pageant participant with—let’s be honest—a flair for fashion, people are often surprised to learn that much of my childhood was spent on a construction site. That’s right. Starting at the age of 5 and continuing through my teenage years, while my peers were taking ballet classes or hanging out at the mall, my siblings and I were hard at work helping my dad with his roofing business.

In the early days, my job was to pick up trash and clear debris. By the time I turned 8, I was up on the roof alongside the crew. Whether it was under the blazing summer sun or through the cold of snowy winters, we often worked from 5 a.m. until dark.

Those long days left me with calloused hands, blistered skin, and scrapes and bruises from slipping on icy days. But they also gave me something invaluable: resilience. The kind of resilience that shaped how I face challenges today.

Fast forward 15 years, and I was the only woman sitting in a boardroom full of men. Did it intimidate me? Not one bit. After all, I’d already spent my childhood working shoulder-to-shoulder with men on construction sites. In the then-male-dominated corporate world, I had the confidence and poise to hold my own.  

Later, when I found myself juggling 5 a.m. wake-ups, a demanding C-suite role, family responsibilities, and the pursuit of my MBA, it wasn’t easy—but it also wasn’t new. I knew how to dig in, focus, and keep going because I’d been doing it my whole life. People were counting on me then, just as they are now.

So, the next time you’re staring down a goal that feels impossibly out of reach, take a moment to reflect on the challenges you’ve already overcome. Chances are, you’re far more prepared than you realize.

Reverse Engineer Your Success

Hear me out; we do not want to simply create a plan to reach your goal. No. This is much more in-depth than that. 

You want to reverse engineer your success, and it starts with deciding the life you want to live ahead of time. Ask yourself, “What does success look like for my marriage, finances, career, etc?” Or, “What kind of relationship do I want to have with my child when they grow up?” 

Once you know what success looks like, you can begin to reverse-engineer the steps you need to achieve. For example, if you’d like to scale your company to a certain size in 10 years, where does it need to be in 8 years, then in 5, and so on. You plan with the end in mind, and by doing so it takes a lot of the guesswork out of the journey. 

Connect Your Goals to What Truly Matters So You Don’t Give Up

Have you ever had a small child play the “why” game with you? You know the one—where every answer you give is met with yet another “Why?” While it can be maddening for parents trying to get out the door on time, this relentless curiosity is actually a brilliant exercise when it comes to strengthening your own resolve.

Think about your goal for a moment. Why is it important to you? Once you have your answer, ask yourself “why” again—and then three more times. This simple yet powerful practice of asking “why” five times can help you uncover the deeper reason behind your goal.

For instance, advancing your career might initially seem important because it means earning more money. But dig deeper, and you may realize that extra income represents financial security for you and your partner in retirement or the ability to help your children start their adult lives free from student debt. Perhaps you grew up without financial stability and that experience shaped your view of what was possible – driving you to create a different reality for your own children.

When you anchor your goals to something meaningful—to the values that truly matter to you—it transforms the journey. The long hours, the sacrifices, the challenges—they all become worth it because they’re tied to a purpose that resonates deeply within you.

Be Honest With Yourself  

One often underestimated factor in achieving your goals is your ability to be honest with yourself. To tell yourself the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable. But here’s the thing: if you’re willing to do the hard work of self-honesty, you can often identify and address potential challenges before they derail you.

As you reverse-engineer your goals and anchor them to your “why,” take a moment to ask yourself, What could cause me to fail? For example, if your goal is to run a marathon and you know missing even one training session might make you quit, you can take proactive steps—like finding two or three running partners to ensure you stay consistent.

When you identify the obstacles that could stand in your way, you empower yourself to create a plan to overcome them. Instead of being blindsided by challenges, you’ll be ready for them. And that readiness can be the difference between giving up and achieving success. 

Sometimes, that honesty means going beyond excuses and asking yourself a deeper question: Why am I not following through on my goals? Is my why strong enough to keep me committed? Am I truly invested in the process, or do I need to cultivate more consistency? Perhaps the goal itself needs to be simplified so I can take that first step and build momentum. Self-awareness isn’t about self-judgment—it’s about giving yourself the clarity and tools to move forward with intention.

Keeping Promises to Yourself: A Key to Never Giving Up

If you’ve committed to getting up at 6 a.m. twice a week to hit the gym—do it. If you promised yourself this would be the year you’d take two weeks off to vacation with your family, stick to it, no matter how chaotic your schedule looks when May rolls around. The promises you make to yourself may seem like the easiest ones to break, but they’re also the most important to keep.

It’s okay to start small if that’s what it takes to build consistency. What matters is that you follow through. Track your progress, check in with yourself, and hold yourself accountable—those small wins add up. There’s power in checking that box and knowing you’re honoring your word to yourself.

Good and bad habits require the same effort—you decide which ones to reinforce. Every action you take is either strengthening your mental toughness or weakening it. With each decision, you are rewiring your brain, building neural connections that shape how you respond to challenges.

Every time you push through discomfort instead of giving in, you train your mind to persevere. Each moment of discipline strengthens your ability to follow through, while every excuse chips away at your resilience. The choice is always yours: build the habit of persistence or the habit of quitting.

When I set out to complete my education, I asked myself: What will guarantee my success? I committed to two simple, unwavering rules—attend every class, no matter the circumstances, and turn in every assignment on time, even if it meant late nights or early mornings. Life didn’t pause for my goals; over 11 years and six pregnancies, the journey was longer than I ever imagined. But I didn’t focus on how long it would take—I focused on what mattered in the moment. I showed up, did the work, and won each day, one small victory at a time. And in the end, I finished. Because keeping promises to yourself isn’t just about discipline—it’s about proving to yourself that you will follow through, no matter what.

Pursuing success isn’t about avoiding challenges—it’s about developing the inner strength to face them head-on. By reverse-engineering your goals, connecting them to what truly matters, and staying honest and accountable to yourself, you create a foundation for resilience and perseverance. Remember, every promise you keep to yourself and every obstacle you overcome strengthens your resolve. The path forward may not always be easy, but it will be worth it. Keep moving forward—you’re stronger and more prepared than you realize.