In everyday life, we all experience challenges to varying extents. Whether that be at work, a relationship, health concern, bereavement…the list could go on. Resilience is how well a person can adapt to events such as the above in their life.
A person is said to have good resilience if they can bounce back quickly and experience less stress as a result. Building our resilience can improve our psychological strength, arming us with the tools to cope with the stress and hardship that life can bring.
How can I become more resilient?
Becoming more resilient will always be a work in-progress for the most part, because you just never know when life will throw you a curve ball. So, if we keep working at it, day by day, when something does come along, we will be ready. Likewise, it is important to recognise we can’t necessarily control what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond, ideally in a positive way.
Top tips for success
- Adopt a growth mindset. Instead of thinking “I can’t…” change it to “I can’t yet”.
- Keep a gratitude diary. Every day write down at least one thing you are grateful for.
- Exercise regularly to manage stress and help build that growth mindset.
Example
Today in my gratitude diary I wrote: “Today I am grateful for the extra time I get to spend with my family while working from home”.
Resources for more information
MIND website: www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/developing-resilience
Action For Happiness – Resilience calendar: https://www.actionforhappiness.org/jump-back-july
References:
www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/developing-resilience
Childs, E., & de Wit, H. (2014). Regular exercise is associated with emotional resilience to acute stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in physiology, 5, 161. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00161
Berkland, B. E., Werneburg, B. L., Jenkins, S. M., Friend, J. L., Clark, M. M., Rosedahl, J. K., Limburg, P. J., Riley, B. A., Lecy, D. R., & Sood, A. (2017). A Worksite Wellness Intervention: Improving Happiness, Life Satisfaction, and Gratitude in Health Care Workers. Mayo Clinic proceedings. Innovations, quality & outcomes, 1(3), 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2017.09.002
Heckendorf, H., Lehr, D., Ebert, D. D., & Freund, H. (2019). Efficacy of an internet and app-based gratitude intervention in reducing repetitive negative thinking and mechanisms of change in the intervention's effect on anxiety and depression: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Behaviour research and therapy, 119, 103415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.103415