Resilience: How To Face Life’s Challenges, Adversities, and Crises

Here are some tips and tricks on how to build resilience and face unexpected challenges with confidence and durability.

We all experience moments where we face challenges, difficulties and issues. Friends often tell us, “Be strong; you’ll get through this,” or “You need to be more resilient”. But what does that mean, and how can we achieve it practically?

In essence, being resilient means adapting and bouncing back when something difficult happens in our lives. It is the ability to pick ourselves up again after trauma or a painful experience.

We can develop more resilience in difficult or stressful events in our lives in several ways. Learn more about improving your strength and why it is the key to turning challenges into successes!

What is resilience, why is it so important, and how do you know if you’re resilient enough?

The extent of our ability to take stress-inducing situations in our stride and endure hardships has been put to the test for the last few years. Both at work and in our private lives, the pandemic has increased the daily challenges we face, significantly impacting our health, relationships and financial circumstances.

We know that there are people with solid resilience who survive and thrive despite such difficult situations. But what makes a person resilient, and can it be built up?

Resilience is typically defined as the capacity to recover from complex life events. “You can withstand adversity and bounce back and grow despite life’s downturns,” says Amit Sood, MD, the executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Well-Being, creator of the Resilient Option program, and former professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Resilience is not a trampoline where you’re down one moment and up the next. It’s more like climbing a mountain without a trail map. It takes time, strength, and help from people around you, and you’ll likely experience setbacks. But eventually, you reach the top and look back at how far you’ve come.

How do you build resilience?

Assess your current position

Take a step back and understand the situation you’re in. Are you in the place you want to be? What’s on your ‘To-Do’ list? Are you doing it for yourself or someone else? By asking yourself questions like these, you can gain insight into your needs and priorities, which helps to put everything into perspective. You can then see where you might be spending excessive energy or under unnecessary stress.

Set SMART goals

Setting realistic, achievable goals for yourself has significant benefits. First, it helps you focus and gives you a sense of purpose; second, splitting big tasks into several smaller goals makes them much more manageable; and last but not least, it gives you something to celebrate. It will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and, by tackling tasks one step at a time, can make roadblocks much easier to navigate.

Acknowledge your failings

A lot of us fear making mistakes or being rejected. But resilient people see failure and rejection as stepping stones towards their goal. They’re something to acknowledge, to grow and learn from, not something that’ll stop you in your tracks. As Thomas Edison famously said, ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ Seeing past mistakes and failings in a more positive light and as necessary steps to get closer to your goals demonstrates resilience. Charlie Mackesy created a book (He says he made it instead of writing it) – “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” – packed not only with beautiful illustrations but also with a beautiful story showing how you can take a different perspective to life to be more resilient. We recommend it with our hearts.

Take care of your well-being

When things seem to be going downhill, it can be all too easy to neglect your own needs. Losing your appetite, ignoring exercise and not getting enough sleep are common reactions to pressure. This is detrimental not only to your physical well-being but also to your mental health. Caring for your needs will protect your overall health, boost your resilience, and be fully ready to face life’s challenges.

If you want to find out your resilience level, you can click to take a test here.

How can we help you to strengthen your resilience?

Resilience gives people the emotional strength to cope with trauma, adversity, and hardship. Resilient people experience stress, setbacks, and complicated emotions, but they tap into their strengths and seek help from support systems to overcome challenges and work through problems. One of your support systems could be our Online Coaching Programs. We will provide you with continuous support and reflection impulses. Hence, you gain clarity, confidence, and resilience and take the decisions and steps to give your personal life and career the direction you want.