'When the going gets tough, the tough get going"

Can anyone share with me the exact meaning of the phrase above. I search some definitions on the web and the cliché is 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going," endlessly quoted by football coaches, sales managers, and other neanderthal motivators, some results post as “when situations are difficult, strong people rise to the occasion”. How can you be strong when against all odds and face with tremendous load of stress & probelms in life.

Just to share something really enlighten me one day where a close collegue of mine whom i believe is very rich (hehe got a peep on his revenue tax slip...) but only to my suprise he only owns a 12++ year old junk car still working fortunately and living in a home (kind of below average to me) where you cannot even imagine he is actually earning that much with only such little enjoyment in life. Call him super stingy if you can but he is only in his late thirties and has already attained his financial freedom since he got no worries with lost jobs, recession, financial instabilities, others stress you name it that causes sleepless night. Of course not all i believe would want to share the kind of life like my friend has but i really trust all individuals has their own set of probelms, sadness or happiness whether you are in the highest corporate level, average guy, a nobody if you think you are etc. All voice down how you perceive life & how hard you try to be strong & postive whenever you are slap with undesire events & probelms. Your greatest opponent is yourself to defeat. Dont be disheartened by people who discourage you. Keep going!

There is a motivational article from adam koo below where i can of like it too about the movie "Rocky balboa" Read it for free!
“It Ain’t How Hard You Hit…It’s How Hard You Can Get Hit and Keep Moving Forward”