Resiliency—the ability to adapt to life's changes and crises—is key to a healthy, productive life. Based on his deep knowledge of the new science of resiliency, Dr. Al Siebert explains how and why some people are more resilient than others and how resiliency can be learned at any age. Through anecdotes, exercises, and examples, Dr. Siebert details a unique five-level program for becoming more resilient. You’ll learn how to: Sustain health, energy, and positive feelings during the worst of times, Improve your analytical, creative, and practical problem-solving skills, Strengthen your self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-concept, Develop the specific attributes and skills found in highly resilient people, and Sharpen your talent for serendipity—the ability to convert accidents and misfortune into lucky accidents and good fortune. The Resiliency Advantage will enable you to bounce back quickly from setbacks, gain strength from adversity, and meet life head on. "… an invaluable resource! In a step-wise manner it provides valuable tools to take back control and feel armed to effectively handle the realities of today's busy world." —Louise Hartley, PhD, President of the Employee Assistance Society of North America "There is no better resiliency leader in the U.S. than Dr. Al Siebert. In The Resiliency Advantage , he makes powerful concepts seem like good, practical sense. Government workers often feel besieged, but after reading and using Al's book, they will feel validated and inspired." —Glen Fahs, PhD, former Director of Training, State of Oregon “Practical, timely, and fun to read, The Resiliency Advantage provides a powerful prescription for getting stronger to meet the challenges of work and life." —Mark Tager, MD, CEO ChangeWell Inc. "…. offers liberating and breakthrough practices to strengthen one's own innate resilient capacities for a happier, more successful, and longer life." —Gabriele Ganswindt, Founder, The Global Resiliency Network Berrett-Koehler is pleased to announce that The Resiliency Advantage by Al Siebert was named winner of the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award in the "Self Help" category at BookExpo America. This year 1,327 publishers from all 50 U.S. states, Canada, and many foreign countries participated in the Award competition, entering over 3,000 titles. The self-help category is the largest of many book categories judged. For The Resiliency Advantage to come out on top of such a vast array of competing books attests to the exceptionally high quality of both the writing and the content. Dr. Al Siebert is Director of The Resiliency Center and is the author of several books, including The Survivor Personality and The Adult Student’s Guide to Survival and Success. Thriving in Today’s World Cynthia Dailey-Hewkin poured herself a hot cup of coffee, sat down at the little table in her kitchen, and opened the morning paper. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped open when she saw the front-page headline announcing that the Trojan nuclear plant where she worked was going to shut down. She was shocked. Her first thought was, “Oh no! What am I going to do?” Cynthia says, “The plant closure came at a particularly difficult time in my life. I was going through a divorce after being married twenty-eight years, and my mother was dying of a brain tumor. Now I was losing my job.”1 How do you respond to extreme setbacks? People react to life’s rough blows in many different ways. Some emotionally explode. They become enraged and flail around. They have emotional tantrums in which they may want to hurt someone. A few become physically violent. Others do the opposite. They implode. They go numb. They feel so helpless and overwhelmed they can’t even try to cope with what has happened. Some people portray themselves as victims. They blame others for ruining their lives. They spiral downward, mired in unhappy thoughts and feelings. “This isn’t fair,” they complain over and over. “Look at what they’ve done to me now.” 2 Then, as shown above, there is another group, the people who get through their distress, orient quickly to the new reality, and cope with immediate challenges. They bounce back and often spiral upward, stronger and better than before. In the workplace, they convert what could be a major career loss into finding an even better new career. Highly resilient people are flexible, adapt to new circumstances quickly, and thrive in constant change. Most importantly, they  expect  to bounce back and feel confident they will. They have a knack for creating good luck out of circumstances that many others see as bad luck. In the past, individuals had to learn how to become resilient on their own. Now, for the first time, the new science of resiliency psychology can show you how to become quickly and easily resilient in a way that fits your world. Research into coping, optimism, hardiness, stress-resistance, post-traumatic growth, creativity, emotional inte