What Is Resilience? How to Build Resilience

Resilience is the ability to recover from life’s challenges, from routine setbacks to catastrophic events. Many complex challenges will arise in anyone’s life, but resilience allows you to harness your inner strength to move forward in the face of adversity.

Resiliency enables a person to maintain a sense of control over difficult circumstances. Life is full of stressful situations, and being resilient allows you to access the strength you need to persevere through these challenges.

Additionally, resilience allows people who have experienced traumatic events to move forward without indefinitely disrupting their well-being or relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms. Building greater resilience may also boost mental health and self-esteem, allowing you to prove to yourself that you can handle difficult situations.

Here is an overview of some of the different types of resilience that you can call on in the face of difficult life experiences:

1. 1. Emotional: Emotionally resilient people can maintain a sense of self-efficacy, trust, and optimism, even amid fluctuating emotional highs and lows. Attending therapy or working with a psychologist to become more aware of your internal tendencies is a great way to build emotional resilience.
2. 2. Physical: Physical resilience involves being able to bounce back from illness, injuries, or other physical health concerns. You can build this type of resilience by exercising to stay strong and resting when your body needs it.
3. 3. Mental: Also called psychological resilience, mental resilience refers to your mental fortitude. People with high mental resilience can handle adversity through healthy coping strategies.
4. 4. Social: Social resilience (also called community resilience) refers to a group’s ability to recover from significant sources of collective stress. Natural disasters are examples of events that call for social resilience.

Challenges are a part of life, and building resilience allows you to handle difficult life events and traumatic stress healthily. Learn how to increase your own resilience by following these tips:

1. 1. Be kind to yourself. Prioritizing self-care helps give you the strength to work through your adversities and keep going. Especially in times of emotional pain, it’s important to show yourself kindness and prioritize your needs. Incorporate self-care into your life by taking yourself on a date, listening to a mindfulness podcast, increasing positive self-talk, or taking a long bath.
   
2. 2. Learn stress-management techniques. Lowering your overall stress levels will help you handle negative emotions and events in life more effectively. Practice meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness to reduce tension in your brain and body, all of which will give you the strength to conceptualize solutions.
3. 3. Practice healthy coping skills. Try journaling, going for a walk, or calling a loved one the next time you experience a stressful event. Over time, these healthy coping exercises will strengthen your mental problem-solving skills, increasing your resilience.
4. 4. Reframe negative thoughts. Optimism is key to recovering from hard times, and too much negative thinking can foster feelings of hopelessness. Concentrate on bringing awareness to your negative thought patterns and reframing them.
5. 5. Seek social support. Talking to loved ones about difficult situations may help you feel supported in hard times. If you feel comfortable, open up to them, and if they offer to help, accept their assistance. If you’re more comfortable opening up to an impartial third party, consider talking to a mental health professional. They have experience helping people develop healthy coping skills.

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