Resilience, psychologically speaking, is the ability to adapt to adversity or significant stress. When faced with difficulty, resilient people recover more quickly. They view setbacks as temporary and move forward despite uncertainty. The thing is, resilience isn’t a magical quality that’s bestowed upon a strong few. Everyone is equipped with some degree of resilience, and you can intentionally deepen your capacity to bounce back.
The following 5 behaviors will help you strengthen your resilience. First, you have to change your relationship with stress. Instead of viewing stress as a sign of failure or as a threat, you can choose to look for the challenge within it or the lesson to be learned. By doing so, you’re cultivating what psychologist Martin Seligman calls an optimistic explanatory style, or the ability to perceive setbacks as temporary and solvable.
Second, manage your emotions. Instead of responding to stress with angry outbursts, allow yourself to process difficult emotions like frustration and anger. Writing about those difficult emotions can help you understand them better, which can help you express yourself better.
Third key behavior: take action even when the outcomes are unclear. It can be nerve-wracking to make decisions amidst uncertainty, but by doing so, you can get out of your slumps and make progress over time.
Fourth, don’t skimp on self-care. Being resilient requires energy, so make sure you’re getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising.
Number five: nurture your network. Keep your relationships healthy so that when you’re going through a hard time, you can reach out to mentors, coaches, and colleagues. When you have a powerful support network, your resilience will only improve.
