Angela Vassallo (00:01.88)
Hello and welcome to Harmony in the Hustle. I am so glad to have you here today because this episode is a really important one and I want to talk about something today that I know has been the catalyst to my success and it has actually helped me right through my entire life and I'm running an event on November the 9th here in Sydney for female entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders and this is the main topic that I'm going to be talking about because
I believe that this particular topic is so unbelievably important and it's all about having resilience. So resilience, I believe if you get to understand how resilience can play in your life, can be literally, it literally can become your superpower. So today I wanna talk a bit about that because if you can nail having resilience in your life and being more resourceful, these two particular words, these...
two particular things, if you can have master these in your life, it will make such a powerful difference. And also about how you react to things. you know, I want to talk a little about, if I'm going to say resilience is your superpower. So how can that become your superpower? Well, I want you to think about it like this. So, you know, in life, there are so many different challenges and obstacles that we come up against and, you know, the world is always changing and
There's so many things that we have no control over. And I want to talk a little bit about having control over things because it can often feel like, you know, we're standing in front of the middle of a storm and it's all these unexpected challenges can happen in business and you don't know whether you're coming or going. sometimes it's easy to look at these as failures, these personal setbacks and it's really hard for you to bounce back.
and you can get really, really overwhelmed. And trust me, I know I've been there. But here's the thing, while we can't always control the storm, we can control how we react to it. So I remember hearing all this a long time ago, how you respond and how you react to things that are happening to you can make all of the difference. And while I've been putting all my keynotes together and all my content for my new branding,
Angela Vassallo (02:21.582)
I've been focusing on the word resilience and I have been doing a lot of research about it. And where does it come from? And I started to read a lot about Stoics and Stoicism. if you don't understand the Stoics, let me explain a little bit about them. Okay, so the ancient Stoics were masters of this philosophy and it was all about being resilient.
being resourceful and focusing on what you can control, not what you can't control. And there's been so many famous Stoics over the years and you have this, and it seems like it's such a masculine energy around the Stoics because a lot of them were men, these amazing philosophers. But the ancient philosophy that they had all those years ago still stands true today. If you really understand the messages that they had, the content they shared,
the quotes, the way that they thought and the way that they live their lives through these four virtues. It is amazing how we think if that's what a lot of people are teaching today that have these successful lives are really focusing on, they're nailing this stuff. They are nailing the fact, they might not even know that they are working with the Stoics philosophies, but they are because it's having an impact in their lives in a positive way because it's how they react.
and how they live their lives. So the ancient Stoics were masters of the philosophy and they taught that the key to thriving wasn't in the finding the things that we can't control or change, but in focusing on all of the things that we can control and putting our energy into those things rather than focusing on the things that are completely out of our control. So that all comes down to your mindset, doesn't it? Like figuring out what you can, can't control and how you react to it.
So it comes down to our mindset, our actions and our attitude. So why is this so powerful in our lives? So when we focus on what's in our control, we basically unlock a sense of calm, clarity and confidence. So you think about it when you're in control of something and you feel like life is in flow and you're going really well, you feel calm, you feel better, you have more clarity, you have more confidence. And think about the times where you're not in control when something is
Angela Vassallo (04:46.686)
out of your control where you're feeling like you're you know, you're paralyzed sometimes by uncertainty. Instead, we go down the opposite road. We can feel like we're lost. We can feel like we have no purpose. We want to give up. We can just like, you know, we feel like we just want to run, you know, because we have no control over it. So this is where instead of getting paralyzed by the uncertainty, what you want to be able to do is focus on what you can control.
to purposely move you forward and take action rather than becoming paralyzed and not doing anything at all. So this is a mindset shift. So when you think about it, so when something comes up and you can't control the situation, you've got two options. You either lose your shit or you either say, I accept this and I'm gonna move through it. So number one, how to gain clarity. So by letting go of what's out of your control, you can see the path ahead.
clearer. Okay, you can see what's ahead of you because you have a clear vision. You stop wasting your energy and start seeing opportunities where you used to see obstacles. So the the other thing that the Stoics talk about is that the obstacle is the way, right? That's what they say. Because if you think about an obstacle or a challenge that's in front of you, and the only way to get through that or to get
to make that happen is that you need to go through it. So the obstacle is the way because you become a stronger, more resilient person by going through that challenge, by going through that obstacle. So it makes so much sense to think that instead of wasting your time and energy thinking, I've got this problem, I've got this challenge, well, instead of complaining about it and bitching about it or running away from it or giving up, how about you think, okay, I'm gonna accept it.
So I'm gonna accept that there's going to be challenges. I'm gonna accept that there's going to be problems. I'm gonna start a business. I accept the fact before I even start that this isn't gonna be easy. That at times the shit will hit the fan. At times I'm going to fail. At times I'm going to have people laugh at me. At times I'm going to feel like an imposter. At times I'm going to feel like nothing is coming together and I'm completely outside of my comfort zone. If you accept that in the beginning, know that that's gonna be part of it. You push through.
Angela Vassallo (07:13.812)
anyway. So that is what they're saying is these stoics are saying in their messaging. They're also saying how do you number two, how do you build resilience? So focusing on what you can control strengthens your ability to bounce back faster. I always talk about bouncing back faster. Okay, you got knocked down. It's acceptable, like you can feel down, but don't stay down for long. While you're down, they grab something learn something and then bounce back faster. So the more resilient you become,
the faster you will bounce back. And look, there's times in life where you get knocked down and you might stay down for a little while. It might keep you down, but the more resilient you become, the more times something happens to you. Like there's so many things that have happened to me in business over the years. It's kind of like, wouldn't surprise me if something happened anymore. Like it's not, I've probably already experienced it. We've had so much stuff happen, but it's about...
How do you overcome that? How do you bounce back and keep going? So when you can do that and you can bounce back faster, what that does, you become very, very grounded. Okay. And you become very resourceful, even in the toughest times. And number three, this will help you to achieve more greatness if you can do this. So this approach helps you to channel your energy into action. So
It truly makes a difference when you can do that, whether it's in your business, your personal life or leadership. The journey that you're on, if you're more able to bounce back faster, have more resilience, focus on what you can control, you're going to achieve greater success because you're seeing life differently. You're not looking at it from a place of a victim. You're not panicking every time something bad happens. You're working through each challenge, each obstacle as it comes.
And that's how the Stoics viewed resilience. And they saw it as a key virtue in life to be resilient. And also the Stoics believed in this, fati. If you haven't heard of that, amor fati. It's embracing what happens to you. So it's either good or bad. It doesn't matter, but you use it as fuel for growth. So instead of seeing it, this is the worst thing that's happened to me, or this is the best thing that's happened to me, sitting somewhere in the middle.
Angela Vassallo (09:33.464)
So when something happens to you, instead of being dramatic about it on either end, just sit somewhere in the middle with it. Understanding that it's just accept it, good or bad, accept it, it's a good thing. So when you really nail it, don't get your ego involved and think you're too great. Just think, okay, this is great. This is part of my journey and this is what I wanted and this is great. you're using the Stoics philosophy, Amore Fatih, embracing what happens to you, good or bad.
and using it for fuel as growth. So the concept of preparation for adversity, so Stoics believed in mentally preparing for the challenges, which is what I just spoke about, because this is preparing yourself, knowing that, going in, knowing that, hey, none of this is gonna be smooth sailing. Part of it might be, if you're lucky, but understanding the fact that I'm expecting to have some challenge. I'm expecting for things to happen.
You're more prepared when they do. So it's not a great surprise to you when something happens, say, look, I've got myself more resilient, I've bounced back faster, I'm understanding the concepts of like, you know, it's good or bad, either way, I'm gonna sit in the middle here. So you're preparing yourself for adversity. So the Stoics believe in mentally preparing yourself for these challenges so that you can face obstacles without being overwhelmed. What a great philosophy. You know, thinking about things.
Like that, this overwhelm, you know, it's not one of my favorite words, overwhelmed because like we do, you you can allow all these things to get on top of you and you can say that they're overwhelmed. But what if you use that and face that and use that as fuel these obstacles and these challenges and you move through them a lot quicker and you bounce back faster? So the practical stoic advice was to focus on what you can control and let go of what you can't control.
So it's definitely a vital principle in building resilience. So I just love this word resilience. There's so much to it when you really get down to it, you do a lot of research on this word, which I just love. And I'm learning so much about it and I'm just weaving it through my life and understanding how I can teach so many other people this resilience, this philosophy of just really nailing this whole concept of just focusing on what you can control, letting go of what you can't, bouncing back faster.
Angela Vassallo (11:59.83)
and being resilient in the face of adversity. So look, I had this event coming up on November the 9th, which I'm sharing with some amazing women coming, it's in Sydney. And I'm gonna be talking all about being resilient and how you can bring resilience into your life and how you can be more resourceful and how you can focus on the things that you can control. So if that's something that you would love to come along, I'd love to be able to.
share that with so many women in business because it's not just business, it's also your personal life because your life is, you have these plans, we all write these plans, we have these game plans, these action plans and we hope that it all turns out the way we want it to. And when it doesn't, we can become very resentful, we can become very distraught, we can literally even just go into ourselves and give up.
But these are the times where resilience is your superpower. If you can focus on your resilience and accept some of these things that happen to you and understand that, know, these are, it's not the end of the world, that you can bounce back from it. And like my, the event that I'm running is called, How to Go from Stuck to Unstoppable.
So if you're stuck and you're somebody that just keeps defaulting back to, my God, panic situations, why does this always happen to me? I'm a victim, like this isn't fair, blah, blah, I never win, I never have any luck. All of these things, it's a mindset shift, it really is. And the faster that you can get through all of that and you can get past all of that, the biggest difference it's gonna make in your life. So think about these ancient philosophers in the ancient times who focused on stoicism.
and stoicism, don't focus on it in a masculine way. We're gonna weave it through in a feminine energy and we can actually, as women, bring this into our lives as well and start to rise up as resilient women who are resourceful, who are making an impact in this world as well. So I hope that's helped you, I really do. I love sharing so much I can about resilience because it's just such a powerful word. And it also, if you tend to nail this.
Angela Vassallo (14:12.706)
you're just gonna have such an easier life and more of a happier life. Stoics really believe about being happier, having more joy in your life and things flowing to you and the world opening up is because you're focusing on these philosophies and these virtues. So I hope that helps and I would love you to share it with anyone who you think would be benefit from this today as well. And don't forget to subscribe and I would love to see you and hear from you in the next podcast. Bye for now.
