Ryan Leak

Some people are naturally wired for risk.

Some people are naturally wired for routine.

But that's only half of the story.

The other half of the story and the other half of the research suggests that environment can matter just as much as upbringing.

In fact, one neuroscientist, he showed that the brain is highly plastic.

I believe his name is Michael Gazzaniga is his name.

You can look up his stuff.

But he had this idea that the brain is highly plastic, meaning it changes based on experience, especially in response to stress, especially when you're trying to learn something new, especially when you're in some unique relationships.

These are things that can form things in your brain.

So

When you begin to think about your upbringing, your mentors, your trauma, your opportunities, the money you had or the money you did not have, all of those things don't just influence behavior.

They actually shape how your brain develops.

And so when we talk about something like resilience, you know, some people think, well, people are just born resilient.

Well, the research would actually suggest otherwise.

In fact, Resilience researchers, one of my favorites is Ann Mastin, she showed that resilience is not a fixed trait.

It's a set of learnable skills, strongly influenced by supportive relationships, coping strategies, and meaning making skills.

After adversity.

Meaning making.

Which means like somebody can take something really, really rough and they can make meaning from it.

The reason I like Ann Mastin is because she famously called resilient ordinary magic.