Life is full of ups and downs – it has difficulties and successes, good days and bad days – some of these are in our control but most of the time they aren’t, and we are left to pick up the pieces. We can always be sure that at some point, we will have one of these ‘down’ days – so how we weather these stormy times is essential for our development, wellbeing and overall happiness.
This is called RESILIENCE. The ability to bounce back and recover from whatever life throws at you. It’s one of the most important skills we can harness, and the sooner we do it the better. That way, instead of breaking under pressure, we will bend in whatever direction it takes us. We move with it.
In this post, I’ll be sharing my seven keys to resilience – the most important aspects of harnessing your bouncebackability to make sure you’re equipped to deal with whatever life throws at you!
Build a Growth Mindset
Psychologist Carol Dweck stated that there are two mindsets – fixed and growth. In a fixed mindset, you believe your lot in life is predetermined by your natural talents and abilities, and so you can’t succeed. In a growth mindset, you believe you are always developing, so new skills and talents can come with time and practice. You can build a growth mindset by practicing affirmations, changing your self talk, and positive visualisations.
Manage Your Emotions
Managing our emotions is essential for resilience. We can do this by keeping our stress levels down, alleviating our anxieties and checking in on how we feel regularly. We can do small things to help manage our mental health such as practicing self care (click here for my Spring Self Care Checklist!), meditating, getting some exercise or journalling (here are 30 prompts to get you started).
Lean On Your Faith
In times of stress or difficulty, people tend to lean on their faith for guidance or support. Whatever your religion, it can help to trust a higher power that everything will be okay. One of my favourite books is Gabrielle Bernstein’s The Universe Has Your Back, which is all about trusting the universe that everything is working for your highest good.
Change Your Self Talk
When something bad happens, we tend to ask ‘why is this happening to me?’ One of the biggest ways I boosted my resilience was turning this question around and asking ‘why is this happening for me?’ The realisation that things are always happening FOR you and not TO you can be life changing.
Ask For Feedback
Learning to love feedback is a big key to resilience. While many see feedback as a personal criticism or attack, it can be a powerful tool to show you what’s working and what’s not in your life. Feedback can come from a tutor, a mentor, a friend or even yourself. Regularly check in with yourself to see how your life is going ( click here to find out about monthly life reviews!).
Gather a Support Network
Having a group of trusted confidantes that you know will be there for support and motivation is one of the cornerstones for life. It’s really up to you who these people are, as long as you feel comfortable talking to them as well as receiving honesty and empathy from them. Know that you aren’t going through this alone.
Set Goals For Yourself
Constantly working towards something helps us to feel fulfilled and purposeful. When something goes wrong, see it as an opportunity to set or amend a goal for yourself. The idea that one day you will achieve this goal will motivate you not to simply give up on life or that life is bad. Goals are imperative for our self growth and development.
I hope this post has helped you undertsand the concept of resilience more and how you can achieve it in your life!
Lots of love,
Natalie
xxx
