How To Be More Resilient Following Actions and Habits
Resilience is a key factor in making it through the struggles of everyday life. Regardless of how much preparation we have, there will always be twists and turns that we must face. You can strengthen your resilience skills through various methods, including the ones listed here. Doing so will prepare you for future trials and build your personal strength.
Participate in a meaningful activity each day.
You should never have to end your day feeling empty. Participate in something every day that gives your life meaning. This doesn’t have to be a major accomplishment or even anything productive. You could knock out a chore that you’ve been putting off. You could also engage in a favorite activity or talk to someone that adds positivity to your life.
Interact with your support system daily.
Make it a point to have daily contact with those that support you. In-person communication is always better but not feasible every day. At the very least, you should talk with one of your support people over the phone each day.
Support people can include but are not limited to:
Family
Friends
Coworkers
Teachers
Coaches
Teammates
Hobby club members
Religious organization members
Neighbors
List
Note at least one silver lining in every negative situation.
Life doesn’t exist in black and white. It’s important to think of tough situations in terms of grayscale, meaning that there’s both good and bad in every situation. Regardless of how difficult it may seem, it’s important to take note of at least one positive outcome from every setback you face. For example, difficult life experiences can help you hone your skills or look at different approaches in the future.
Engage in daily self-care activities.
Taking care of your mind and body is important for a resilient, healthy life. As you wind down each day, take a moment to pamper yourself. Examples of self-care activities include:
Avoid unhealthy coping habitS.
Exercise
Skin care treatments
Bubble baths
Meditation
Journaling
Yoga
Reading
Watching movies or television
Listening to music
Humans tend to want to numb uncomfortable feelings. When you have undesirable emotions, it’s important to cope with them in healthy ways to maintain your resilience. Don’t turn to self-destructive behaviors, such as substance use. Some healthy ways to deal with negative emotions include:
Exercise
Discussing your thoughts and feelings with others
Journaling
Meditation
Art projects
Participate in support groups.
Community-based supports are a great way to expand your support network. You can also learn new coping skills from others and get inspiration from their shared experiences. There are numerous mental health and trauma support groups throughout the nation. You can also search online for gender-specific groups, groups designed for specific minorities, and emotional resilience workshops.
Expose yourself to challenges.
Expose yourself to a new challenge a couple times throughout the week. Challenges can be anything as long as it’s something that tests your boundaries. The point is to make yourself uncomfortable without putting yourself in harm’s way. For example, if you struggle with social anxiety, a safe challenge could be starting a conversation with a stranger in the grocery store.
Visualize your future.
Building resilience isn’t just about getting through present day experiences; it’s also about looking toward the future. Visualizing your future goals and plans is a great way to push yourself through hard times. Think about your career, family, hobbies, activities, etc. when looking forward to the future.
Practice loving-kindness meditation.
Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) stems from Buddhist meditation practices. LKM utilizes positive messages to enhance mental stability, resilience, and your relationships with others. You can use this each day to maintain a positive attitude and cope with stressors that you face in everyday life.
You can listen to guided LKM’s, engage with a professional LKM instructor, or even practice on your own. The key is finding a calm, quiet place and allowing your thoughts to embrace feelings of love and positive affirmations you can also incorporate journaling into this practice by writing your thoughts and preparing positive affirmations for yourself.
Actively work on forgiving yourself and others.
Forgiveness is a crucial part of the healing process, whether you need to forgive yourself or others. Accept the things that happened and the fact that you cannot change them. Identify when grudges and repressed emotions are holding you back. Have conversations within yourself and/or with others to share forgiveness and move forward with your life.