Building Resilience: Insights on Mindset and Mental Strength with Emma Levy
By Dr Daniel Gordon • 24, Jun 2025
What is resilience? What does it mean to have a strong mindset, and can we learn to become more resilient over time?. These are the questions I explored with Emma Levy, who returns to The Health Perspective for a follow-up conversation.
Many of you reached out after our first interview about Life After Cancer, and in this post we’re shifting focus — not on illness, but on mental wellbeing, mindset, and the psychological tools that help us thrive, even when life gets hard.
Emma is a physiotherapist for elite athletes, a motivational speaker, and the host of the award-nominated podcast "When Life Gives You Lemons," where she interviews high-performing individuals who have faced profound adversity and come back stronger.
In this episode, we turned the tables — and I interviewed Emma to uncover what she’s learned from these conversations, and how all of us, regardless of our circumstances, can build greater inner strength.
Emma’s Learnings from Interviewing High-Performing People
Through her podcast, Emma has sat down with some of the most resilient individuals you’ll ever come across — from Paralympians and artists to people who’ve overcome extraordinary trauma. What’s striking is that the real wisdom doesn’t come from their victories, but from the mindset they developed along the way.
Here’s what Emma has learned after dozens of these intimate, raw conversations.
1. Resilience Is Both Inherited and Learned
Emma believes resilience is a mix of nature and nurture. Many of her guests faced serious adversity early in life — loss, illness, injury — and it shaped how they handle everything that came after. But it wasn’t only genetics. Resilience was also trained and earned through experience.
“I’ve been through worse — I can get through this too.”
2. Gratitude Changes Everything
From Henry Fraser to David Holmes, Emma noticed a shared theme: an almost radical sense of gratitude. Whether it was appreciating the taste of water after weeks without, or the simple joy of sitting in the sun, her guests had learned to find profound meaning in the ordinary.
Gratitude didn’t erase their pain, but it gave them perspective. And for Emma, gratitude isn’t about journaling or writing essays. It’s found in her morning coffee, a ripe banana, or simply being able to walk her children to school.
3. Reframing is a Superpower
One of Emma’s favourite mindset shifts came from an athlete guest: “I used to think, ‘I have to train today.’ Now I think, ‘How lucky am I that I get to train today?’”
It’s a simple reframe — but incredibly powerful. This shift from obligation to privilege changes how we engage with everyday life. Emma encourages us all to catch these moments and consciously redirect the story we’re telling ourselves.
4. Everyone Has a Story — Even If They Don’t Realise It
Some of Emma’s most remarkable guests initially said, “I don’t know why you’re interviewing me — I haven’t been through anything special.” But their stories often turned out to be the most inspiring. One woman’s quiet journey from Colombia to running a business in the UK left a lasting impact. Emma reminds us that resilience doesn’t have to look dramatic. Often, it’s the quiet, persistent effort to show up each day that deserves the most recognition.
Emma Levy’s Top Strategies to Strengthen Resilience and Mindset
Drawing from both her personal journey and her podcast, these are the strategies Emma believes help build lasting mental strength.
1. Know Your Values and Your ‘Why’
Before her cancer diagnosis, Emma admits she hadn’t really considered her personal values. Now, she encourages people to ask:
“Why am I here? What matters to me?”
Knowing your purpose helps anchor you when life gets uncertain. When life gets messy — and it will — that clarity helps you stay steady.
2. Shift from “Why Me?” to “What Now?”
This simple mindset reframe is something Emma often returns to. Whether it’s cancer, injury, or emotional difficulty, asking “What now?” moves us forward and creates space for action and hope. It moves us from helplessness to intention.
3. Practice Gratitude — In Your Own Way
Emma doesn’t use journals or apps — they don’t work for her. Instead, she finds gratitude in the small, passing moments:
“This banana is ripe.”
“This coffee tastes amazing.”
It’s about noticing, not recording. You don’t need a ritual to practise gratitude. You just need presence.
4. Train Your Mind Like a Muscle
Inspired by her work with Team GB athletes, Emma explained that resilience can be trained. Athletes practise staying calm under pressure using controlled adversity — dimmed lights, loud distractions, even staged criticism — to simulate the unexpected.
It’s a lesson we can all apply. Exposure to challenges — in safe and supported ways — helps build psychological flexibility. And when the real world throws curveballs, we’re better prepared.
5. Set Micro Goals and Stay Present
Big goals felt overwhelming during recovery. Now Emma asks,
“What do I want to get out of today?”
It’s grounding. It keeps life manageable.
By focusing on small, achievable intentions, she avoids the pressure of long-term outcomes and stays connected to what truly matters in the moment.
6. Reflect Without Overanalysing
You don’t need a full toolkit of wellness apps to reflect. Emma prefers to think, not write.
Her advice? Don’t force what doesn’t suit you.
Reflection doesn’t have to be structured or time-consuming — it just needs to be honest. Resilience grows when we use strategies that feel natural, sustainable, and kind to ourselves, not ones that add pressure or guilt.
Final Thoughts
Resilience isn’t something you’re born with — it’s something you build.
Emma’s message is clear: even without extreme hardship, we all face challenges. We all adapt. And we all have a story worth honouring.
So, whether you’re sipping a cup of coffee in silence, questioning what really matters, or just getting through another tough week, remember that is resilience.
Be where your feet are. And give yourself credit — you’re doing better than you think.
Disclaimer
This blog post provides general information only. It is not intended to provide instruction and you should not rely on this information to determine a diagnosis, prognosis or course of treatment. It should not be used in place of a professional consultation with a doctor.
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