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5 Tips for Building Resilience

If you missed the memo – we’ve been hosting free weekly webinars for over a month now (so check them out!). Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jen Arnold, host of the Redesigning Wellness podcast, about building resilience and how we can learn to be more resilient – especially during the current unprecedented times. If you missed this episode or if you need a refresher, the American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.”

 

While resiliency comes more naturally to some, the good news is that resilience is a skill that can be learned and honed! To help you along the path to becoming more resilient, we’ve compiled Jen Arnold’s advice into five practical tips to build up your resilience:

 

  1. Write down three good things that happen every day

At the end of every day, take time to write down three good things that happened that day. Add the role you played in making them happen, too. Since the human brain is wired to seize on the negative, this exercise will help you retrain your brain to seek out positives. If you stick to this exercise for two weeks, you should start feeling results. Teaching your brain to seek out positives leads to increased overall happiness and better sleep!

 

  1. Label your emotions

 In order not to be held hostage by a reactive or negative emotional state, it is critical to process emotions effectively.  It begins with acknowledging and naming our emotions. In short, we have to “name it to tame it.” Allow yourself to feel the emotion first and then name the emotion. Naming emotions helps provide clarity around their presence and activates your cognitive powers. This practice will help you regain control over your emotions and move towards thinking about solutions to the problem as opposed to being stuck in an unproductive emotional state.

 

  1. Adopt a growth-mindset

 Learn to shift your perspective when life doesn’t go as planned. Developing a growth-mindset means acknowledging areas of growth when you’re faced with a challenge. Start reframing setbacks, challenges, and disappointments as opportunities to learn something new, and grow. This also means forgiving yourself and others when failure happens – applaud the effort of trying to learn.

 

  1. Focus on your locus of control

 Spend your time and energy focusing on the situations that you have control over. When you find yourself ruminating on events that fall outside of your locus of control, redirect your energy towards identifying what you can control in that situation. Identifying what is and isn’t in your power during an overwhelming situation helps mobilize you into positive action. Jen reminded us that people who are highly resilient tend to be “realistic optimists” which means that they are able to both acknowledge the difficulties of a situation and identify (and make) realistic choices and actions that are in their locus of control.

  

  1. Practice self-care

Engage in your favorite activities. Allow yourself an extra hour or two of sleep. Take a nap. Read a book. Spend time outside. Make time to do whatever it is that helps you feel relaxed and recharged. Taking care of yourself and your body is an essential element to overcoming adversity and managing stress!

 

Resilience is a necessary skill that will help you find success and happiness in your personal and professional lives. We all face (and will continue to face) challenges and hardships, so learning how to bounce back from them will help us thrive in all facets of life!

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