Dealing with Adversity: The Mindset That Carries You Through
If you work in law enforcement, public safety, or any high-stakes profession, adversity is not a matter of if—it’s a matter of when. In your career, you’ll face difficult calls, critical incidents, public scrutiny, internal politics, personal loss, and sometimes life-threatening danger.
In deadly encounters, you’ve been trained to activate your will to survive—that iron determination to never give up and never give in, no matter the odds. Chief David Dominguez reminds us that this same unshakable mindset isn’t just for physical survival—it’s for all the roadblocks and challenges we face on the job and in life.
Adversity will come. The question is: Will you have trained your mind to meet it?
The Resilient Mindset
Psychologist Susan Kobasa, a pioneer in resilience research, identified three core traits of people who withstand adversity without breaking:
Challenge – Resilient people see difficulties as challenges to be met, not as threats or personal failures. They reframe obstacles as opportunities to grow stronger.
Commitment – Resilient people are committed to their lives, goals, relationships, and values. They have a compelling reason to get out of bed every morning, even when it’s hard.
Personal Control – Resilient people focus on what they can control, letting go of what they cannot. This internal locus of control fosters confidence, empowerment, and clarity under pressure.
These three elements—Challenge, Commitment, and Control—are the backbone of the resilient law enforcement mindset.
Why Resilience Is Non-Negotiable in Law Enforcement
Exposure to adversity is constant: Officers experience, on average, 188 critical incidents in their career (Violanti et al., 2018).
Chronic stress without recovery increases the risk of depression, PTSD, cardiovascular disease, and burnout (McEwen, 2007).
Resilient leaders create resilient teams: Research shows that resilience in leaders directly correlates to team performance and morale (Luthans et al., 2007).
Adversity will test not just your skills but your ability to lead yourself and others through the storm. If you collapse, the people who rely on you—partners, colleagues, family—feel the ripple effect.
Developing Your Resilient Mind
Resilience is not a fixed trait—it’s a muscle you can train.
Here are practical, proven strategies:
Reframe the Narrative – When adversity hits, ask: “What can I learn here? How can this make me better?”
Strengthen Your Why – Keep your core purpose visible—literally. Write it down and keep it where you see it daily.
Train for Control – Focus energy on what’s within your influence today. Let go of what’s beyond your reach.
Build a Recovery Habit – Stress isn’t the enemy; unrecovered stress is. Breath work, peer connection, and intentional downtime keep your resilience tank full.
Model Resilience – As a leader, your response to adversity teaches your team how to respond to their own.
The Call to Action
Today, choose one adversity in your life right now—big or small. Write it down.
Step 1: Reframe it as a challenge rather than a threat.
Step 2: Identify one thing you can control about it.
Step 3: Take one action today toward that point of control.
When you train this mindset daily, you’ll find that the same will to survive that keeps you alive in a deadly encounter will also carry you through the inevitable storms of life—stronger, steadier, and ready to lead.
Works Cited
Kobasa, Susan C. “Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into hardiness.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37.1 (1979): 1-11.
Luthans, Fred, Bruce J. Avolio, and James B. Avey. “Psychological capital (PsyCap) and beyond.” Oxford University Press, 2007.
McEwen, Bruce S. “Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain.” Physiological Reviews 87.3 (2007): 873-904.
Violanti, John M., et al. “Police stressors and health: a state-of-the-art review.” Policing: An International Journal 41.4 (2018): 642-656.