Resilience is the ability to bounce back from hardship. It’s about having a strong foundation and being able to deal with whatever life throws at you—no matter what happens, you’re ready for it all! Resiliency is a trait we all have, and it’s what allows us to live full happy lives despite our circumstances.
Resilience is not just about coping or accepting your situation: while you may use different techniques to cope with a challenge, resilient people tend to find different ways of responding to adversity than non-resilient people do. This can mean tweaking your mental attitude about the situation, taking action to overcome challenges in life (like seeking out new opportunities), and so on. It’s about not seeing yourself as a victim and understanding life will present challenges to you, and you are responsible for overcoming them.
Resilience is our ability to handle and learn from the pain and sorrow we encounter in life. It means being strong enough to withstand adversity, bounce back when you get knocked down, and keep going even when things are tough.
three key components of resilience:
To build resilience you need three things:
- Mental Agility – the ability to think flexibly and creatively about your life and choices
- Self-Awareness – being aware of your strengths and weaknesses, so that you can adjust your behavior accordingly
- Physical Health –you need to take care of your body and stay healthy in order to deal with stress, trauma, and setbacks.
1. mental agility
Mental agility is the ability to think clearly and make good decisions, as well as adapt quickly when new situations arise. people with strong mental agility are able to stay focused under pressure, not get flustered when faced with a challenge, and finish tasks on time.
As with most things in life, it’s always easier said than done – but with practice, you can improve your mental agility.
2. self-awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to see ourselves as we really are. It means recognizing our strengths and weaknesses, understanding our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, and knowing how we react to stressful situations.
Having self-awareness means you can see your own faults and accept them without judging yourself or feeling guilty. When you have a strong sense of who you are, you can recognize that there are things in your life that you can be improved on.
- Bad habits,
- lack of experience
- Personal shortcomings
You do not see these as flaws that make you but instead as areas of your life that can be worked on to become your best self.
3. physical health
Your physical health can be a key indicator of how resilient you can be and handle stressors in your life. If you’re having trouble sleeping or experiencing pain, you will not have enough energy or mental strength to overcome the challenges that life can present to you.
When we are not feeling like our best selves, we will tend to use easy fixes to cope with challenges in our life. Such as binge-watching tv shows or overeating to mask the pain we feel. When we are fully energized and feel physically healthy, we can better handle the problems in our life.
So how does physical health help us be more resilient?
- Exercise is great for boosting moods; Exercise releases endorphins in your brain, which can make you feel happier and more energetic;
- The body needs good quality fuel; eating unhealthy foods on a regular basis will lead not only to an increased risk of disease but also mental fatigue as well as stress
- Sleep is essential for a healthy brain: the body and mind on average need 6-8hrs sleep in order to function properly
Related:6 Amazing Benefits from a Good Night Sleep
Why is it important to become resilient?
Strengthening our resilience skills can help build our mental strength and gain more self-confidence in ourselves. We gain new perspectives about ourselves when we realize what we are able to handle or heal from. This is why it’s important to see struggles in life as a learning opportunity instead of falling into the victimhood mentality.
The better you are able to cope with the stresses in your life,
- The healthier and happier you will be.
- You won’t spend so much time worrying about stressful things
- You’ll feel happier because of an improved sense of well-being
- You can focus on higher priorities rather than petty issues
- And most importantly, you won’t feel weighed down by negativity
Resilience is a skill that can be developed through practice. The more you work at it, the better you’ll get at handling unexpected challenges in your life—and finding ways to move forward in life.
Why you should start learning to become a more resilient person?
builds confidence and self-esteem
it’s essential to build resilience because it helps build confidence and self-esteem. Resilient people view failure as a stepping stone toward success—they know that setbacks won’t hold them back forever.
When working through problems, people with high self-esteem and confidence can focus on their priorities (without feeling guilty) and focus on what really matters instead of getting stuck focusing on matters that don’t align with their goals or priorities.
gives you a Positive outlook on life
Resilient people have a positive outlook on life. They expect that things will get better when times are tough rather than giving up and feeling depressed or hopeless.
This is because resilient individuals have a positive outlook on life, even when things don’t go their way, their resilience allows them to get back up and try again. They don’t give up easily and keep trying until they succeed in whatever they’re doing.
Able to cope with a challenging situation or crisis.
The ability to cope with a stressful situation or crisis is an important skill that can help you manage challenges in your life. When you become resilient, you will be better able to deal with something unexpected or difficult. This can be anything from losing your job to experiencing a health scare.
Why having healthy coping skills is needed during hard times?
- Helps you find meaning in challenging situations
- Allows you to face your challenges head-on instead of avoiding it.
- Gives you the drive and determination to keep going even when things seem bleak.
- Helps you move on faster from challenges or setbacks in life
Can achieve your goals more effectively.
By developing your resilience, you’ll have the mental toughness to stay focused on your goals and keep going in spite of any challenges or setbacks. The ability to learn from your failure allows you to learn from your mistakes and avoid making similar ones in the future.
People who are resilient tend to be more successful than those who aren’t because they don’t let setbacks get them down—instead seeing each failure as a chance to learn and grow.
signs of low resilience
Some people have a natural resilience that helps them bounce back from setbacks, while others find it easier to blame others for their troubles. Developing resilience is about changing the way you think about yourself and changing the way you view your life experiences.
We can not always choose what happens to us in life, but we can choose how we handle our response to tough situations or hard times.
So how do you know if you are someone who can handle difficult situations or someone who easily gives up?
There are many signs of low resilience, but here are some common ones:
You consider yourself a victim of circumstances
When bad things happen, it can feel like they’re happening against your will. You might not take responsibility for the things that happen to you and see yourself as a victim of circumstances instead.
This can be because you believe:
- Some people are luckier than others
- Life is unfair and will always be against you
- You are a victim of your circumstances (e.g., poor health, bad relationships)
- Other people in your life create problems to hold you back
This type of thinking makes it difficult to resolve problems or challenges when they arise. You may feel that you’re powerless and unable to change your situation. When something goes wrong, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of negative thinking that makes you feel like a victim.
This can prevent you from making positive changes in life because you don’t believe you can control anything anyway!
You are unsure of your own self-worth or place in the world
Your sense of identity is formed from childhood experiences, including what you experience in your home, school, and community.
It’s a sense of yourself that includes:
- Your beliefs about who you are (your values)
- Your view of the world around you
- How others see you
- Your confidence in your strength and abilities
Identity is a fluid thing that can be shaped by our experiences. It’s important to stay grounded in who you are to avoid losing yourself among the many roles and situations we encounter throughout life.
Related: Why is Self-Image Important? 11 Ways to Feel Better About Who You Are.
You're constantly blaming other people for your problems
When you’re not resilient, it’s easier to blame others for problems in your life than to look within and recognize that some of those problems are a result of the choices you’ve made. You may feel like there’s nothing you can do because your circumstances are just too bad or other people are too difficult to work with—but this is simply not true!
By taking responsibility for yourself and your life, you look outward for an explanation or solution rather than inward for an excuse to not move forward.
You're accustomed to feeling anxious and overwhelmed
If you often feel overwhelmed and anxious, it may be a sign that your ability to adapt well to new situations or setbacks needs some work. People who have low levels of resilience tend to overreact emotionally—and even experience panic attacks.
These feelings can come on suddenly or gradually build up over time. Learning how to cope with stress and anxiety is one of the best ways for you to avoid getting overwhelmed. When you feel like your mind might be spinning out of control, try deep breathing or other relaxation techniques.
Related: Anxiety: The Invisible Health Threat and How To Manage It
You think change happens through luck, not through effort
You believe that change happens only when fate intervenes—when the gods favor you or an unexpected windfall takes place. You have a victim mentality, and think that everything is beyond your control; thus there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation.
You might say things like:
- “I’m stuck in a rut.”
- “I’ve tried everything but nothing has worked so far.”
- “I’m too old to change.”
- “I’ve tried so many things but nothing has worked.”
- “Life just isn’t fair.”
- “I’m just not lucky.”
- “I don’t have the time or energy to change things.”
- “Change is too hard for me.”
Remember your thoughts and beliefs about yourself and your life have a huge impact on how you feel, act and perform.
If this sounds like you, then it’s likely that you don’t have a strong resilience skill set. But there are ways to improve our resilience skills so you can be better able to cope with whatever life throws at you!
5 ways to build resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from a difficult situation. It’s being able to turn a negative situation into a positive one, even if it takes time.
you can build resilience by learning through repetition and practice. The more you’re able to handle difficult situations, the more resilient you’ll become.
1. Keep things in perspective
Resilience is a skill that can be learned, but it’s important to keep things in perspective. While it’s natural to experience negative emotions when life gets tough—you shouldn’t let these feelings get the best of you.
When things are going wrong, don’t compare yourself to others around you or dwell on how much worse off you are. Instead, take time for yourself and focus on what brings joy into your life. You’ll be surprised by how much better you feel and how much more productive you can be when you’re not weighed down by negative emotions.
Related: 11 ways to change your perspective
2. Accept that change is a part of life
If you’re going to live a happy life, you have to accept change.
I know that sounds like a cliche and all, but it’s true! Accepting change can make you happier. When we resist the inevitable flow of life and try to cling to what is already gone, we get stressed out. And when we stress ourselves out by fighting against change, then we start resenting our current situation instead of appreciating it for what it is.
The key point is not about letting go of things; instead, it’s about finding ways to be at peace with the fact that everything changes eventually — whether good or bad. We need to learn how to deal with changes in our lives without getting too worked up over them.
3. Be positive about yourself, your life, and your future
If you are feeling down on yourself, or feel like you have no control over your life, it can be hard to see any good in anything at all. But if you want to enjoy life, it’s essential that you take full advantage of every opportunity that comes along and see the positive side of every situation.
When you do this, you will begin to see that there is a lot more good in the world than there is bad. When you focus on the positive side of things, it can make all of the difference in how your life turns out.
4. Maintain a hopeful outlook
It is important to maintain a hopeful outlook on life, because hope is what drives people to grow in the face of difficulty. If we can believe that something good will happen, then we will work harder and longer toward achieving it.
- Be optimistic: optimism involves expecting positive things to happen in your life and acting as if you expect them to happen
- Believe in yourself: believing in yourself means having faith that you are capable of achieving whatever goals you set for yourself
- Believe others: having confidence doesn’t just mean being confident about one’s own abilities—it also means trusting others when they say they’ll do something or believe something too!
- Be consistent: if you want to reach a goal, it’s important that you keep working toward it; consistency is crucial for success
5. Develop coping skills
One of the most important things we can do to make sure our mental health doesn’t suffer during times of stress is to develop coping skills. This means learning how to deal with stressors as they come up in our lives—instead of letting them pile up and overwhelm us.
A few coping skills include
- Problem-solving,
- Accepting responsibility for one’s own actions,
- Knowing when it’s appropriate to ask for help.
- knowing when its time to walk away from the situation
A person who has good coping skills is less likely to experience mental health problems than someone who doesn’t know how to cope with stress and difficult situations. You can learn to cope with difficult situations. The more you practice using these skills, the better you’ll get at them—and the stronger and more resilient you will feel as a result of your efforts.
Related: 10+ coping skills worksheets
Resilience skills can be learned. It’s not complicated, and it can be applied to situations in any area of life. When we understand what resilience really means and how to develop it, we can begin cultivating more resilience in ourselves and others
Related: What is Emotional Health? And the 5 Simple Ways to Improve It
