What is resilience?
During our lifetimes we all experience challenges from day to day situations to traumatic events with a more lasting impact, such as the loss of a loved one, illness or, right now, the impact of COVID-19. Each challenge affects us differently – our thought processes and emotions. A lot of the time we adapt and find a way through it using our own resilience techniques.
While these challenges can be painful and difficult, our aim is to not let them determine the outcome of our life. Using our resilience tools there are lots of aspects of our lives that we can control. Becoming more resilient not only helps us get through difficult circumstances, it also empowers us to grow and even improve our life along the way.
How to become more resilient
While some individuals appear more resilient than others, it’s not a personality trait that only some people possess. Learning to be okay with making mistakes, big or small, is a skill—not only to build resilience but also to creating future success. Resilience involves behaviours, thoughts and actions that anyone can develop – here are some basic things we can all do to help ourselves:
- Avoid/reduce caffeine, alcohol and nicotine
- Get physical (just a walk in the fresh air will make a difference)
- Sleep – quality rest has so many benefits
- Use relaxation techniques – breathing exercises, meditation visualisation
- Talk to someone you trust
- Keep a stress/worry diary – write it all down for 5 – 10 mins a day then close the diary
- Take control – compose a list of what you can control and make a step by step plan
- Manage your time
- Break down tasks
- Say NO – put yourself first – you don’t need to apologise for this!
- Rest if you are ill
And remember…
- Relationships – accept support and talk things through
- Everyday – do something every day that is for YOU
- Self awareness – what have you learnt from the experience? Reflect on this (write it down)
- In perspective – look at the bigger picture (how will you feel about this in a week, month, year?)
- Life – you are living – MUCH better than the alternative!
- Identify – with yourself, with your surroundings – reconnect – take time
- Endings – this WILL pass – it WILL come to an end and a new day WILL Dawn
- Nurture – look after yourself
- Change – is inevitable – accept what you cannot change
- Experience – you survived and can pay it forward – which can be very rewarding
Here are some links that might be useful:
https://sandro-mota.com/ – breathing and self-connection techniques
https://www.resilience.org/ – lots of articles around resilience