Resilience is a bit of a buzz word right now, but what is it, why is it needed and most importantly, how do we build it?
In this blog post I want to answer these questions and give you 10 great tips on how to build your resilience whether your a teenager or a have few more years on the clock.
What is resilience?
Resilience is our abilty to cope with the ups and downs of life, it is the capacity to adapt and have a flexible mindset to overcome adversity, failure, difficulties and any other challenge life throws at you.
Resilience is needed as each one of us will face a challenge at some point in our life from an argument with a sibling, friend, colleague or that person who took your place in the queue to greater challenges or loss, bereavement, failure an other such things. When we have good resilience we are able to bounce back, it does not mean that we are invincible, but we are able to stand again to face another day.
Al Seibert said: Highly resilient people are flexible, adapt to new circumstances quickly, and thrive in constant change. Most important, they expect to bounce back and feel confident that they will. They have a knack for creating good luck out of circumstances that many others see as bad luck.
If resilience is important, then how do we build it? Here are 10 top tips to help you build and improve your own resilience.
1. Take on a challenge
Whether it be a 5KM run, learning a new language or deciding to read one book a month. Having a challenge to focus on helps build good habits and gives focus as well as a sense of achievement. What could you do?
2. Ask for help and support
No one knows everything and no one can do it all. Asking for help allows space to let others into your life and builds connection. Think about how willing you are to help others and how good that feels, why not let someone else feel that by asking to help you.
3. Have an attitude of gratitude
Being grateful is extremely good for your mental health! Focusing on things that have made you glad, given you joy or that your grateful for and writing them down makes your brain look for more of them, it basically puts into your daily thinking. Have you ever got a new car and then noticed lots of them on the road? Subconsciously you're looking for it - being grateful does the same thing.
4. Take care of yourself
Eat, sleep and exercise. Being mindful of your sleep, diet and exercise routine is key, we need to make sure that our bodies are fuelled, rested and ready for the day ahead. Keeping these things in balance boosts our self-esteem, make us more positive and gives us the energy to face the challenges of life.
5. Learn something new
This one keeps the grey matter working well. I have written a whole post on this, it's worth a read.
6. Find purpose
Knowing our why is key. Why we are doing something puts all the other bits into perspective. You may go through the pain of having a filling in a tooth because you know it is better in the long run - that's the why that gets you through.
7. Creat space to reflect
In our super busy, always connected, rushing to the next thing world, we do not always give ourselves time to breathe let alone reflect. Taking time to reflect helps give perspective, enables us to look at a situation from a different view point and gain a better viewpoint. Read more about reflecting here.
8. Step outside your comfort zone
The best things in life are often waiting for you at the exit ramp of your comfort zone.
Like blowing up a balloon, it is in the ability to stretch that it fulfills its potential. Stepping out of our comfort is where personal growth, achievement and resilence happen. It is not always about giant leaps but often small steps. Every journey starts with a step.
9. Find solutions not excuses
Henry Ford said 'He who thinks he can or can't is probably right. When we focus on how to get past something instead of why it is there who's fault it is we begin to have a growth mindset that helps us move beyond the chanllenges and enables you to grow.
10. Maintain a hopeful outlook
“Humans see what they want to see.” ― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
Having a hopeful view of the world and thinking about what you hope for over the things you fear will have a positive impact on your wellbeing, your resilience and your ability to adapt to changes and challenges that life brings.
Download this handy PDF
These tips are by no means an exhaustive list, resilience is liek a muscle that needs to be exercised and worked on. Find what works for you, share it with others and be intentional about building it.
What tips would you add to this list? Why not let us know via Twitter.
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