Resilience is hard to grasp until you realize how easy it is to get back on your feet after a setback. Some people seem to be able to move forward naturally, while others may get stuck in the mud.
If you are not naturally resilient, you can learn how to be. Some books can help you deal with a global pandemic, talk about racial inequality, or get over the death of a loved one.
Some of the books on our list are simple self-help books, like Freedom From Anxious Thoughts and Feelings. Others, like Between the World and Me, are more like memoirs.
Here are the best perseverance books for young adults we’ve found about being strong.
Freedom From Anxious Thoughts and Feelings by Scott Symington
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says that about 40 million people in the United States have anxiety. To overcome this stress we have to find ways that can help us to reduce this stress. In such scenarios reading books like the perseverance books for young adults can help you. This makes it the most common mental illness in the country. Freedom from Anxious Thoughts and Feelings gives a practical “two-screen method” to help stop anxious thoughts in their tracks. The two-screen method is based on what author Scott Symington, Ph.D., calls the three anchors: mindfulness skills, healthy distractions, and loving action.
Mindfulness can improve your health, and Symington gives you visual tools in this short guide to help you change how you react to hard thoughts and feelings. In short, it can help you develop a plan that you can use when you’re feeling anxious. Symington’s method is useful and easy to understand and use. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to be more present and stay focused on the things that make them happy. This book is ranked among the best perseverance books for young adults.
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Sheryl Sandberg, a manager at Facebook, says that resilience comes from deep inside us and from support from the outside. Sandberg, also known for her best-selling book “Lean In,” says that even after the worst things happen to us, we can grow by finding more meaning and appreciation in our lives. In Option B, she shows how to help people in trouble, be kind to ourselves, raise strong kids, and make families, communities, and workplaces that can handle problems.
Sandberg got ready for a father-child event at her child’s school two weeks after her husband died suddenly. She cried, “I want Dave!” and meant her late husband. Her friend told her, “Option A isn’t available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B. Sandberg’s book is part autobiography and part how-to guide, and she spends several chapters talking about how to raise strong kids and find strength in the family. She says it’s important to help kids find their unique strengths and that getting kids to help others is one way to do that.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Another amazing book among the best perseverance books for young adults. Between the World and Me was written by the famous journalist-turned-author Ta-Nehisi Coates as a letter to his 15-year-old son. Coates shows that racism has always been a part of American history and culture. He talks about what he knows about racism because he was Black and grew up in America. Coates gives his son advice and comfort because he thinks his son may follow a similar path. The theme of resilience runs through all of Coates’s lyrical writing. The social constructions of race, the fear of living in a Black body, the lies of the American Dream, police brutality, and body autonomy are some discussed. Between the World and Me was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
Imagine if you could take a drug as you were dying to make you less afraid of death and whatever comes after. Most likely, you’d take it. Michael Pollan discusses this idea and others in his book How to Change Your Mind. Pollan never took drugs, but when he reached middle age, he became interested in becoming “more open.” So, he started looking into how some drugs might be able to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this fascinating perseverance book for young adults author says that psychoactive compounds like LSD and psilocybin (aka, magic mushrooms, which some medical experts believe contain a compound that could be used to treat depression).
Even though all of this might sound strange, Pollan makes a strong case for psychedelic therapy. Pollan says that mental health care in this country is broken, and drug companies are becoming less and less likely to invest in new antidepressants. Pollan talked to researchers who think there is a place for a mental health club where people can try psychedelics in a safe and supportive setting. One of the researchers Pollan talked to was a psychiatrist. This person thinks that the goal of psychedelic therapy is to help people with a chemical disorder who feel like their lives have no meaning.
Resilient by Rick Hanson
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and the founder of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. In his most recent book, Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness, he tries to show you how to build resilience and long-term happiness through simple steps. He says that building strengths like grit, gratitude, and compassion is the key to resilience.
Hanson thinks the brain is like a muscle that can work better by working it and stimulating it often. He tells you how to exercise your brain differently and helps you build up mental resources you can use when things get hard. As Hanson says: “Resilience helps us get over loss and trauma, but it has a lot more to offer than that. Well-being is a feeling of happiness, love, and peace from inside.”
Beauty in the Broken Places by Allison Pataki
Allison Pataki’s life went from being normal with her husband and a baby on the way to an unexpected journey of love and loss in minutes. Pataki was five months pregnant when her husband had a near-fatal stroke at 30,000 feet. They were on their way to Hawaii for their babymoon. When he finally woke up in the hospital, it was clear that the man she had married and all of his memories of their life together were gone. In addition to caring for her new baby, she had to take care of her sick partner, who couldn’t remember her. She started writing daily letters to her husband to help him remember their history and how much they loved each other. This was a form of therapy for her and a way to show her commitment to her marriage. Beauty in the Broken Places is an emotional journey told through the author’s love letters to her husband. The letters are painfully honest and give deep insights into the power of being strong. This book ranks as a best read among the best perseverance books for young adults.
To Unlock The Inner Kingdom By Agostina Colarusso
Another book among the best perseverance books for young adults. To Unlock the Inner Kingdom is a book about Agostina Colarusso’s struggles and how she was led to enlightenment. It is a journey of persistence, self-awareness, and thought that leads to her finally receiving the Divine blessings. And for us, it gives us a way to figure out our own paths.
Throughout the book, we go on a spiritual journey that focuses on how Agostina used spiritual channelling to find happiness and healing. The author wants to help readers who are having trouble with their own problems by using what she knows and has done.
If you’re ready to stop struggling and start living, this wonderful book will take you to a new world where you can find peace, serenity, and freedom.
Ending Note
People have different ideas about what it means to be resilient, who has it, and what it looks like. But that’s up to each person. We can always learn more about resilience, and these perseverance books for young adults are a great place to start because they have a lot of different ideas and points of view.
The most important thing to remember is that resilience is not something you have that can help you bounce back or change into “your old self” after a hard time. No, hard times, traumas, times of weakness and despair, and pain bring us to a new place where we must go through those traumas and reshape ourselves based on what we’ve learned and where we want to go.
Some of the best skills are discipline, persistence, and a good attitude.
If you’re ever going through a hard time, I hope you can come back to this article to find some wise advice on some great books that can help you get where you need to go through tools, techniques, and personal stories.
