Today’s world seems to get more and more stressful. This year we have had natural disasters from weather across our nation along with continuing health epidemic concerns. There are a number of challenging life experiences happening in the international arena. I think we have all experienced psychological distress in one area or another. Research suggests that cultivating resilience can be a huge help for you in successfully adapting to these and other issues in the future.
Read this post to find out just what resilience is and what it can do for you.
What does resilience mean?
Resilience is defined as “the ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges,” but this ability varies significantly from person to person.
Nevertheless, the ability to overcome adversity is key to human resilience. For example, it has been shown that resilient people can recognize and address the potential for failure but face their fears anyway and succeed.
In addition, resilience internalizes success and prevents you from being predisposed to externalizing or blaming others.
These trees shown here depict the word resilience to me. They have had to survive years in the face of any number of weather-related stressful events. That is what resilience can do for you. Help you to adapt and even thrive no matter what life throws at you!
The 4 Primary Resilience Factors
Internal or Psychological Resilience
Internal resilience is the ability of a person or system to maintain itself internally despite external pressures, threats, or challenges. This includes both the capacity for self-regulation and to overcome challenges. It’s being able to do what you need to do, despite the obstacles placed in your way. Psychological or mental resilience is about learning how to be flexible, resilient, and bouncing back from life changes. It’s about feeling strong, independent, and powerful. This ability will enable you to stay focused and motivated on your goals.
Physical Resilience
Physical resilience is the ability to withstand physical challenges and adversity. This might include having a robust immune system, recovering quickly from illness or injury, or enduring difficult physical conditions.
Some examples of physical resilience include:
- Having a robust immune system and recovering quickly from illness or injury.
- Being able to endure difficult physical conditions, such as extreme heat or cold.
- Being physically fit and having high levels of energy.
- Being able to withstand strenuous physical activity or challenges.
Emotional Resilience
Emotional resilience is the ability to regulate emotions and stay positive in the face of adversity. It is being able to maintain a positive feeling despite challenges, fear, difficulty, or emotional pain. It follows the idea that people should be confident, open-minded, and thrive even when tough times and life seems complicated. This might involve managing stress effectively, practicing gratitude, or finding a new way to improve your mood. The ability to bounce back from life’s challenges is crucial for success and happiness and emotional health.
Social Resilience
Social resilience is the ability to build and maintain strong social support networks. This might involve having close family and friends or being involved in supportive communities. Another idea is to find a job that provides a sense of purpose and meaning. This can be done by any individual looking for something to help them cope with overwhelming events and difficulties in life.
Why Resilience Is Important?
Each of these types of resilience listed above is important, and people often draw on multiple types of resilience to get through tough times. By understanding the different kinds of resilience, you can start to build your own strength and fortitude to better weather any challenges that come your way.
There are many benefits to building resilience, including:
Increased Mental and Physical Health
Resilience has been linked with better mental and physical health. Resilient people can turn on a dime according to the moment’s needs without too much stress and adversity. Due to this, they often have lower depression, anxiety, and stress rates. They also tend to have more robust immune systems and cope better with chronic illnesses.
Since stress and anxiety can play a big part in skin issues then it also makes sense that the ability to adapt and remain calm would help your skin feel and look better. I personally feel when I experience stress my eczema tends to flare up. I am sure others feel that difficult emotions cause breakouts of acne or other skin issues.
Improved Academic Performance
Resilient students are more likely to succeed in school. They have better grades and test scores and are less likely to drop out of school. Resilient students are also more likely to recover from setbacks, such as failing a class or getting a bad grade.
Increased Job Satisfaction
Resilient employees are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. They report feeling less stressed at work and are less likely to experience burnout. Resilient employees are also more likely to stay with their current employer and less likely to job hop.
Greater Life Satisfaction
Resilient people tend to be more satisfied with their lives. They report feeling more optimistic about their life in general and are less likely to experience negative emotions like sadness, fear, and anger.
Better Coping Skills
Resilient people have top-notch coping skills. As a result, they deal with stressful situations easier and more calmly. Plus, they are less likely to turn to unhealthy coping strategies such as alcohol or drugs. Resilient people are also more likely to seek out social support and use positive coping strategies such as problem-solving and positive self-talk.
Enhanced Creativity
People with resiliency skills tend to be more creative too. They can better develop new ideas and are more open to change. Resilient people are also more likely to take risks, leading to new opportunities and experiences.
Greater Happiness
People who are resilient report a higher happiness level or life satisfaction level than their rigid counterparts. They report feeling more joy and satisfaction with their lives and are less likely to experience negative emotions than those who haven’t built up their flexibility. Resilient people are also more likely to have a positive outlook on life and see the glass as half full.
Building resilience is an integral part of achieving success in life. The five benefits listed above are just a few of the many advantages of being resilient. Developing and growing your resilience will ensure your success and improve your mental and physical health, academic performance, job satisfaction, or life satisfaction.
Resilience is about being able to keep going when things get tough, and it’s about taking responsibility for your own happiness and success. With the modern world being so busy and stressful, it is more important than ever to maintain a positive attitude, even in adversity.
6 Tips to Build Resilience
Here are some tips on how to cultivate resiliency to be more successful in the modern world:
Make Time for Yourself
To stay resilient in stress and adversity, it’s important to make time for yourself every day. Take the time to carve out time in your schedule to do things that make you happy and help you relax.
Whether reading, going for walks, or listening to music, find activities that allow you to recharge and de-stress. Maybe it is just sitting and watching the waves or the sunset.
Hint: Put it in your calendar and then make it happen.
Take Care of Your Mental Health
Maintaining good mental health is a fundamental key to building your resilience. If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue, it’s vital to seek professional help. Talk therapy and medication can be extremely helpful in managing mental health conditions and keeping them under control.
Developing personal resilience can be a big step in not developing unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Practice Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation are two powerful tools that can help increase resilience. These practices involve focusing your attention on the present moment and letting go of all other thoughts and worries. Mindfulness can help you learn to control your thoughts and emotions, better deal with stress, and become more aware of your surroundings.
Find a Hobby That You Enjoy
Doing activities that you enjoy boosts your resilience. Challenges and setbacks seem more manageable when you have something to look forward to outside of work or school. Explore hobbies that bring you joy and regularly make time for it.
Keep Track of Your Progress
Sometimes, everyone gets discouraged, but remembering how far you’ve come can help you stay resilient. Keep a journal or list all the accomplishments and positive changes you’ve made in your life. This will help remind you of your strength and show you that you can overcome anything.
Accept Change
Change is a constant in life, and adapting to it is essential for resilience. However, it’s important to remember that change is usually not permanent and that even the trickiest situations eventually end.
Adopting these habits can help increase your resilience and better equip you to handle whatever life throws your way. Remember, challenges and setbacks are inevitable, but dealing with them is up to you. So choose to be resilient, work on that attitude, and build your skills. Before you know it, you’ll be able to face anything that comes your way.
Some Final Thoughts on What Resilience Means
As I mentioned in the first paragraph a person’s ability to maintain resilience varies so take it one step at a time in developing yours.
Just be aware your own resilience and well-being are related so you should look to develop resilience as a critical skill that will help you to make more healthy lifestyle choices.
The following is a short concise list of key factors reflecting what resilience means.
- Self-Knowledge
- Work-Life Balance
- Having a Social Community
- Taking a Step Back
- Reframing Negative Thoughts
- Focus on What is Within Your Control
- Effective Goal Setting
- Making Meaning from Hardship
- Taking Control of Your Life
Good luck on your own journey towards greater self-awareness and inner strength.
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