Resilience - Strengthening Mental Fitness
Facing Adversity
I have learned that adversity does not discriminate. If you have a pulse, you will face hardship at some point in your life, and you will survive!
Resilience typically describes the qualities and behaviours of people who bounce back using a mixture of grit, mindset management, and cognitive reframing.
It has been a well used word in my vocabulary in my 25 plus years of work in mental health services, given that I have walked side by side with people at their most vulnerable points, helping them find a way forward.
Being resourceful
On this journey together, we discovered ways to overcome their day-to-day challenges, find strategies to allow them to tap into their resourcefulness, and adopt a resilient stance to go forward with their lives.
We packed the tools that they learn into their metaphorical kitbag to help them go ahead fearlessly with confidence to thrive.
I have had the privilege of helping people from all walks of life to adopt effective strategies to tackle life's obstacles and challenges using these approaches:
Resilience Traits
People react differently to misfortune, suffering, or disaster and build resilience differently. Here are some that I have discovered along the way.
Grit
This positive trait is based on perseverance. The effort, desire, and motivation to achieve a goal are often seen in people who refuse to give up. Much like the cowboy on the bucking bronco, it involves building stamina and sustaining effort towards a goal even when this is a struggle.
Positive psychology
A term introduced by Maslow in the 50’s referring to the ability to create a balanced view of human potential. This can be seen in people you meet who are ‘glass half full,’ able to look for the positives and adopt a solution-focused approach.
Imagine the athlete who loses a limb but congratulates themselves on still having three limbs left, and you have a taste of how having the ability to adopt positive psychology can be invaluable in resilience building.
In a recent article, I explored the impact of having a positive perspective on strengthening mental fitness.
Reframing
A mindset reset can be achieved when we adopt a fresh perspective to strengthen an optimistic view of circumstances. Once the lens through which you see the world shows a more positive view of circumstances, we can alter our expectations to match our reality. This allows us to adjust to an ever-changing world and continue to adapt.
Cognitive resilience
This is usually seen in people who have faced adversity and learned that suffering is part of the human experience. They know that they can either sink or swim and learn not to sweat the small stuff. While it can become misunderstood as having a lack of empathy or not caring, it keeps a healthy perspective, a reminder that it is possible to choose which situations to react to.
In Saint Francis of Assisi's words, this approach invites us to have the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know one from the other.
Humour
This plays a vital role in human resilience and survival. Adopting a humorous approach in moments of adversity is a form of mental training. It helps us restructure logic, gain perspective, and reshape our viewpoint to grasp unprecedented events from a psychological perspective.
From a neuropsychological perspective, dopamine, known as the ‘feel-good neurotransmitter, is released during humor moments, which helps us feel happier.
Approaches to strengthen Mental Fitness
Play to the percentages
Otherwise known as the art of working out how and when to take action. Timing, readiness, and capability are essential factors in this approach's success. Timing helps you to identify when your actions will have the most significant impact, and readiness ensures that you take action when you have the resources to see things through (lining up your ducks). This approach also supports the view that up-skilling yourself with the capability to tackle the challenge you face increases the likelihood that you will create your desired outcome.
Choose your battles
Otherwise known as game management, I have observed that carefully deciding when to and when not to act on issues or situations can be a powerful approach to boosting resilience. Not all battles need to be won. Boxing clever or ‘losing the battle to win the war’ can be a more strategic way to ensure that you can remain resilient after the fact. Prioritising when to utilise your resources is one way to maintain stamina, which helps you be impactful where it matters most.
Looking danger in the eye
Impacting change by taking direct action works best as a planned response rather than an impulse reaction. This is not without its risks, given that it is not always possible to ensure that the outcomes desired are always possible. A risk assessment with safety net strategies to deal with challenging outcomes and backup support in place is always recommended.
Battening down the hatches
Gathering supplies, building your bunker, and waiting for the storm to pass is sometimes the best strategy for avoiding being a casualty. This is a strategy that was applied to our lockdown experiences and enabled us to remain safe. Lessons can be learned and adaptive practices adopted after the storm has passed.
Creating a safety barrier
This involves using equipment that maximise your safety, enabling you to take your position on the front line. This is both courageous and risky. The benefits of taking action to create a win may outweigh the risks of harm or injury. Either way, courage, determination, and focus are needed.
Strengthening Mental Fitness
As pandemia rocked our world in 2020 many of us experienced occupational deprivation. We learned to nurture physical wellbeing and mental resilience against an unseen enemy. For many of us, life has changed significantly. Some have lost, others suffered, and our efforts to remain optimistic continue to be challenged.
Hope
The future has felt uncertain; we may continue to feel as though we are dancing on a shifting rug. Despite this, we are learning lessons and being innovative. We are finding purpose, discovering new ways to be productive, managing our mindset to accommodate new circumstances, and adjusting our expectations.
The Future
We are wondering when it will be possible to return to our normal lives, with a sense that our experiences will change us ... and they will!
2020 - 2021 will be remembered by us all for the rest of our lives. As we re-tell the story in years to come, my best hopes are that we will describe ourselves as being ‘resilient in the face of a global pandemic.’
#100% Pure Polly – Living Life’s Adventure…
I wish you all a happy and energetic week.
Do you want to know more about how to live your life’s adventure?
