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Explore ten practical tips you can start using to develop your resilience today, with Claire Russell, Founder of Mental Health in Business.
- Look for your strengths
- Identifying your strengths and seeing how they have helped you deal with previous adversity will show you that you have demonstrated resilience and practiced it before.
2. Examine daily life for evidence of your resilience
- Strengths can be found, not just in the major life events that we cope with, but also in the daily responsibilities that we all juggle and get done every day.
- Remind yourself of this and acknowledge your dedication, perseverance, discipline and problem-solving ability.
3. Self-acceptance
- We are all individual, amazing, whole people.
- We are the sum of all our parts – we’re not a job title or a condition.
- Self-acceptance means not rating ourselves based on success or failure of the things we do.
- It’s not based on favourable conditions being present in our life in order to validate our self-worth.
- Self-acceptance is the acknowledgement of yourself as being an imperfect, complex being whose self-worth remains constant whatever the circumstances of your life.
4. Keep things in perspective
- This involves not jumping to negative conclusions every time a challenge is encountered.
- It’s not about assuming that things will go a certain way just because they have before.
- When an event happens, take a step back and take the time to appraise the reality of the situation.
5. Review past adversities
- We’ve all had them – big and small.
- See them as opportunities for learning and growth.
- Think about – and discuss with others if you have chance – how you dealt with what happened and what lessons you’ve learned.
- Even if it seems you didn’t respond very well, acknowledge that you did the best you could with what you knew at the time.
6. Envisage future adversities
- Think of it as a form of risk management that helps you to consider whether you have the resources you need to cope with whatever comes your way.
- Prepare emotionally for the feelings that might come up for you.
- It might seem odd – but see it as a very effective form of emotional self-regulation!
7. Deal with adversity as it unfolds
- When you’re faced with an unexpected difficulty – if you can – be aware of how you’re feeling and responding in the moment and talk it through with someone sympathetic.
- This will help you to avoid suppressing your feelings so you can make adjustments to how you’re responding.
- This will also help you to take some control over what is happening.
8. Get comfortable with discomfort
- If the emphasis in your life is to remain as comfortable as you can, as much as possible, you’ll probably avoid any unpleasant or difficult situations.
- In no way does this protect you from any future adversity but it does mean that you won’t be emotionally prepared for it.
- Facing challenges head on flexes those muscles and raises your tolerance to adversity, meaning you’re better equipped and more resilient.
9. Build a new strength
- You’ve identified the strengths and qualities that you have already.
- So why not try turning some of your perceived weaknesses into strengths too?
10. Resolve to be more resilient
- We all have choice – choice to stay the same or to evolve.
- A choice is to respond one way or another.
- Resolving to be more resilient is a choice. The behaviours that we have been looking at will all contribute to growth in resilience.