Rising to the Challenge: How Tough Activities Build Resilience for Work
As a wellbeing at work and resilience coach, I’m fascinated by how pushing ourselves in life can strengthen our capacity to cope in the workplace. Recently, I completed a solo swim the length of Lake Annecy in France – 15km of open water that took me nearly 7 hours. A great team from SwimQuest supported me. It was physically and mentally tough, but the real takeaway was this: doing hard things outside work makes you more resilient within it.
Lake Annecy
The end of the swim
It was a relief to finish!
And this wasn’t my first challenge. I’ve also swum the English Channel and Loch Ness, both as part of a four-person relay team with the brilliant Nicky Mather, Lynsey Dunne and Maighread McMahon. Each of those swims presented different challenges – including long night shifts, unpredictable weather, and icy water. Preparing for them took months of structured training, discipline, and an ability to handle discomfort – all key elements of personal resilience. And what I’ve consistently found is that those experiences shape how I show up at work: calmer, more focused, and more resilient when things get tough.
So, what does the research say? Is there really a connection between challenging activities and workplace resilience?
Personal vs Workplace Resilience – Is There a Difference?
First, let’s unpack resilience. It’s often defined as the ability to bounce back from stress, adversity or change – to keep going in the face of setbacks. While people typically refer to “personal” and “workplace” resilience as separate concepts, studies show that they are strongly correlated. In fact, resilience is increasingly understood as a general capacity – the confidence, coping skills and adaptability we build in life often show up directly in our professional world.
Employees with high resilience are more engaged, experience less burnout, and are more able to adapt during times of change. Research has found that personal resilience (our ability to cope with life's challenges) transfers across domains, enhancing how we deal with deadlines, interpersonal tensions, and organisational stressors at work.
Why Challenging Activities Build Resilience: What the Science Shows
Engaging in challenging activities is one of the most powerful ways to build resilience – and it doesn’t only apply to physical feats like swimming marathons.
Here’s how the science explains it:
You build belief in yourself. Completing a difficult challenge boosts self-efficacy – your belief in your ability to overcome. This confidence is key to resilience.
You learn to manage stress. Tough activities provide a safe space to experience pressure and practice staying calm. Over time, you develop emotional regulation skills that serve you well in managing workplace conflict or meeting deadlines.
You build tolerance for discomfort. Long-distance swims like Annecy require staying focused through fatigue, cold, and doubt. That mental endurance applies to sticking with tough projects or navigating organisational change. It’s an attitude to just get on with it!
You shift your mindset. People who voluntarily stretch themselves develop a “growth mindset” – the belief that skills and strength can be developed. This is strongly linked to resilience.
Real-World Examples: Physical, Creative, and Emotional Challenges
There’s plenty of research to support this. In one study, participants in an outdoor leadership expedition (similar to Outward Bound) reported significantly increased psychological resilience after completing the programme. Endurance athletes like ultra-marathoners and long-distance swimmers often score higher on measures of resilience and emotional regulation than non-athletes – not just because they’re fit, but because they’ve practised pushing through adversity.
But this isn’t just about athleticism. Creative challenges, such as learning a new language, performing in public, or tackling complex skills, also build resilience. It’s the stretch – not the context – that counts.
A recent study found that deliberately doing things outside your comfort zone – even small things – leads to significant improvements in confidence and wellbeing. So whether it’s a swim, a solo trip, or signing up for a public speaking course, challenges that test your edges are also building your inner strength.
Lake Annecy: A Personal Example of Resilience in Action
My Lake Annecy swim brought all of this to life. For months, I trained in cold water, building up my endurance. Lake Annecy was not cold when I did the swim, but to get the miles in open water, I trained in Scotland, where the water is not so warm! I worked on mindset and nutrition. I adapted to unpredictable conditions. On the day, I was supported by the incredible team of guides from SwimQuest, comprising of Nick, Clare, and Tom, who kept spirits high and safety a priority. As with other swim challenges, I have had supportive teams, and that really helps. But ultimately, it was me against the water, and the only way through was to keep going – one stroke at a time.
That experience didn’t just leave me with a sense of achievement. It left me feeling mentally stronger, more focused, and more capable. These are qualities that are essential for persevering when times get tough, and those that I observe that are needed in clients who face challenging transitions, uncertainty, or burnout.
The Workplace Benefits of Doing Hard Things
So what’s the takeaway for your professional life? Here’s how personal challenges translate into workplace gains:
You handle pressure better – your stress threshold is higher.
You adapt to change more easily.
You stay more engaged and less reactive.
You’re a better problem-solver under pressure.
You become a role model for resilience in your team.
Building Resilience Through Challenge – For Yourself and Your Team
If you want to build resilience – for yourself or within your workplace – one of the most powerful things you can do is deliberately take on challenges. It doesn’t have to be a long swim or mountain trek. It might be a new skill, a commitment to something outside your comfort zone, or a creative risk. The key is to choose something meaningful that requires effort, patience and recovery – just like work does.
If you’d like to explore how building personal resilience can support your leadership, wellbeing or team performance, let’s have a conversation. There’s no better time to build inner strength than now.
About Diana Dawson
I’m Diana Dawson, Founder of Working Career. As an Accredited Master Coach, Coaching Psychologist, and Business Psychologist, I have over 20 years of experience helping professionals and organisations grow, thrive, and succeed.
I bring together coaching, psychology, and practical tools to help individuals unlock their potential and organisations develop engaged, high-performing teams.