In business (and in life) we are all bound to experience challenges — disappointment, hardship, and even failure. Remember that time you didn’t close that deal. You didn’t get that raise. You didn’t secure that key partnership. You didn’t do as well as you had hoped on that presentation. You took a company decision and were wrong. Well, that’s life. Things happen and in fact, if you are playing a big game in life, you will make lots of mistakes. The bigger question is, who are you going to be in the face of adversity? Are you going to hide? Avoid confrontation? Take the easy way out? Or are you going to struggle and wrestle with it until you get it right? It’s not the presence or absence of challenges that determine our success; it’s how we recover and rebound in the face of those challenges that yields a positive or negative outcome. While some collapse under the weight of adversity, others emerge from their experiences happier and stronger than ever. When forced to overcome monumental personal and professional adversity, with our identical twins being born at 28 weeks gestation while we were in the midst of getting our eight-year-old company acquired, my husband and I leaned on everything we learned in business and self-development, in order to, not only survive but come out on top. Through our journey, we discovered five key activities that allowed us to remain mentally strong while navigating adversity.

1.) Surrender to your circumstances so that you can focus on the present and get your head in the game. There is a growing body of research — and ancient philosophies — that demonstrate the power of surrender and acceptance. Most of our suffering is caused not only by the difficult circumstance but by our refusal to accept what happened. By surrendering to that which we can’t control, we free up critical mental energy that can be channeled into focusing on what we can control, which allows us to take action even in the most trying of circumstances.

To start surrendering, we can ask ourselves three key questions:

What are the facts of my situation?

What is out of my control?

What is in my power to control?

Now, let go of everything that is out of your control, and double-down all of your efforts, thoughts, and actions in the areas that are within your control. Try it. Now, did you experience instant relief and feel empowered? You should.

2.) Manifest what you want by channeling your thoughts to reach desired outcomes and find the light at the end of their tunnel. There are several powerful benefits to manifestation: one is that by getting clear about what your end goal is, you can backwards-plan with the end in mind. Envisioning yourself in your perfect or ideal state is a significant step towards creating your future, and in many cases, seeing is believing: Visualization is a form of mental rehearsal, and research shows that it can be just as powerful as physical practice. You can begin manifesting and visualizing by spending ten minutes picturing yourself in an ideal future state. Make sure that it’s as detailed and specific as possible. Where are you? Who is with you? How far into the future is it? What are you doing? What’s your title? What are you wearing? What does it smell like? The more detailed your vision, the better, as it’s forcing you to direct cognitive energy into the mental rehearsal.

3.) Practice gratitude to shift your energy and bring the needed dose of positivity and centeredness to allow you to be more proactive and forward-thinking. Doing this will not only make you feel better, but your colleagues will enjoy being around you. They will feel safe, loved and uplifted in your presence, and that is guaranteed to boost your effectiveness at work. There are many documented benefits to gratitude: it improves your physical and mental health, it makes you happier and more empathetic, and it decreases some of your negative emotions. The key to gratitude is making a regular and consistent practice of it. We might be used to being grateful on occasion but we should shift to being grateful every day, and even verbalize it in the office — eventually our brain will begin scanning the environment for things to be grateful for. We can start practicing gratitude by spending fifteen minutes every day, journaling, or sharing with a partner, what we’re grateful for that day. Take your time with this, and truly picture and savor each person, place or event. And be creative: it’s easy to fall into the trap of listing the same five things, but doing that diminishes the impact of the practice.

4.) Lean on your community by identifying your key circle, allowing yourself to be vulnerable. Maintaining close social and professional relationships is important — it’s one of the leading quality of life indicators. Connection matters — and by being vulnerable and allowing our loved ones to help us, we not only recover better but build stronger relationships with them. If you’re struggling to reach out during a difficult time, try a reverse-thought exercise where you imagine that your close friend or colleague wanted to reach out to you, but was afraid to do so: what would you say to them? How would you react?

5.) Experience the art of forgiveness so that you can learn how to forgive others and how to forgive yourself for the mistakes made. Holding onto a grudge in the office, or at home, is sure to lead to toxicity, and you certainly do not want to be the source of that negativity. Research backs up the power of forgiveness– it decreases our anger, anxiety, and depression and improves our overall health. But while most of us may be fine with forgiving others, we might struggle to forgive ourselves, and both are important. We can practice forgiveness by writing a letter — maybe it’s to someone who hurt us in the past, or maybe it’s to ourselves for a mistake. Either way, we can use the letter to let our feelings out, extend some compassion, and then let it go, by either burning it or throwing it away.

These five principles aren’t an exhaustive list — in fact, there are several more principles that we’ve uncovered in our journey. But by learning these five habits, one at a time, you’ll be better equipped to battle any hardship that comes your way at work or at home, and you’ll be a happier and more resilient person because of it.