The BNH Book Review

“The 5 Practices of Highly
Resilient People: Why Some Flourish When Others Fold”  

by Taryn Marie Stejskal

2023/Hachette Books

$29/272 pages

When she was a young teen, Taryn Marie Stej-
skal had a stalker. The first time she saw him, she says, he was peeking through her bedroom window. Later, he trespassed in her parents’ back yard. One evening, he tried to break a glass door before the police arrived. 

That was a scary time for Stejskal. So how did she overcome the trauma of it all? And how can you come out stronger at the end of a pandemic, or other experience of loss, fear and change?

There are, she says, five main ways that people can enhance their resilience. Among them is to embrace the challenge, don’t shy from it. “It is in adversity that we discover our strengths, talents and wisdom,” says Stejskal. 

Resiliency is not about bouncing back. “Resilient people bounce forward, not back.” Learn to see where you’ve already been and what you already know by making a “reverse bucket list” with three items on it: something you lost, a bad health diagnosis if you’ve had one, and “thing(s) that scare you.” These are what make you the person you are.

Learn “productive perseverance” and how to “pursue goals intelligently.” Set aside time to worry, and then release. The most amazing thing about “The 5 Practices of Highly Resilient People” is this: every single power inside this book is already inside you. You only need to know how to coalesce and make them stronger. This is the kind of book you’ll want to spend some serious time with, and you’ll be glad you did.