Have you ever wondered how some of your colleagues have always responded well to demands of daily life, both at work and outside work, while others panic and withdraw into themselves? What makes them stand apart from the rest? I am sure all of us would love to see ourselves becoming more resilient to thrive through turbulent times. Let’s take a look at what is resilience and how can one develop resilience.

What is Resilience?

Resilience is that remarkable quality such as positive attitude, the ability to manage emotions, the ability to see failure as a form of feedback, adapt to new and different situations, being flexible and ask for help when they need it. These qualities enable them to bounce back every time they get knocked down by life and most of the time come back stronger than ever. 

In fact, it is those with resilience who cope and thrive best with challenges like constant organizational changes, insanity at workplace, constant pressure, exhaustive meetings, peer pressure, loss of jobs and finally an overly demanding boss.

Developing Resilience

The good news is all of us can learn to become resilient, those whose resilience is lower can learn to boost their ability to cope, thrive and flourish when the going gets tough. Although some people are naturally more resilient than others, resilience can also be learned and built.

The ability to cope well with pressure, adversity and uncertainty relies on developing behaviors, thoughts and actions. Anyone can learn these habits and create strategies to help increase resilience.

Ways to build Resilience

Here are few easy ways to build resilience, just start practicing them, given building resilience is an active process.

• Support System: We are biologically social creatures, hence good relationships with colleagues, family and friends are vital to lessen the impact of stress in our lives and increase positive emotions. Resilient employees rely on others to help them survive tough times. Good relationships at work and outside work can also help increase a sense of belonging, well-being and build self-confidence.

• Learning Process: Always looks for learning opportunity from problems. Resilient employees tend to see change as a challenge to confront and overcome, rather than an unbearable problem or a stress to avoid. They also see change as an opportunity for self-reflection, learning and growth.

• Sense of Purpose: Have a strong sense of purpose, develop SMART* goals at work and personal life, review them periodically and keep making progress. One small step a day will take you a long way. Break issues into smaller chunks and smaller goals. Smaller goals make it easier to see progress and can motivate you to persist through challenges.

• Celebrate Your Successes: Take Time to Review and Celebrate Your Success: You’ll be glad you did. This habit trains your mind to look for success, creating a positive feeling rather than dwelling on negativity and ‘failure’.

• Practice Optimism: Always listen to your common sense voice, though your stressed voice could be louder and dominating at times. Maintain a positive outlook, expecting good things to happen. Employees with optimism do better at managing stress and chaos. When your stress voice forces you to think negatively, challenge yourself to reframe the situation more positively.

•  Sense of Humor: You have heard this phrase – “Laughter is the best Medicine”. While a good sense of humor cannot cure all ailments, but can definitely lessen the impact of stress. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals and promote an overall sense of well-being.

• Lead a Healthy Life: A balanced-diet along with regular physical activity and relaxation activities helps body and mind. A sound body and mind helps alleviate stress and improve resilience. Employees who are physically fit have a different physiological reaction to stress.Practicing mindfulness helps one to enjoy life and understand themselves better. Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental well-being.

• Pick a hobby: Do things you enjoy outside of work. Merriam-Webster defines a hobby as “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.” In other words, a hobby is something you do specifically for fun. This creates a work-life balance thus building resilience among employees.

In summary, resilience will not prevent challenges from coming your way. However, it will help you be prepared mentally for whatever comes your way – whether taking on new responsibilities, learning new skills, dealing with a pay cut, or being laid off. Resilience will not only help you survive, but thrive, in the workplace.

How can Stress Control Online help you?

Building resilience is one of the cornerstones of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Our thoughts influence the intensity of our feelings and of our actions, how and what we think about unpleasant or difficult situations also greatly affects our core beliefs. Core beliefs that are irrational or unhelpful greatly contribute to anxiety and depression and affect our resiliency. CBT can help you increase your self-awareness by teaching you to identify your beliefs and discover their connections to your feelings and behavior, which is an important step in increasing resilience.

*S – Specific
 M – Measurable
  A – Attainable
  R – Relevant
  T – Time-bound

Profile: Saravanan Neel is Co-founder and COO of Silver Oak Health. He is a senior HR professional with more than two decades of HR experience in multiple continents. He has co-founded Silver Oak Health in an attempt to redefine the mental health scenario and improve well-being and quality of life for millions of people across the globe.

Publsihed With Permission.