Developing Resilience

Our ability to deal with the everyday challenges and set-backs of our working and personal lives requires resilience.

There are several factors that contribute to someone’s resilience; some are intrinsic such as a person’s genetics, some are extrinsic such as their upbringing, environment and support network, and some are a mixture of both, such as their personality and emotional intelligence (EQ).

What this means is that resilience is not a given,  It isn’t something that we either have or we don’t. It is something that can be built through developing certain skills, behaviours and strategies to enhance our ability to cope with the challenging situations that life throws at us.

There are four core areas of our wellbeing that we need to focus on when looking to develop our resilience.  These are mental, physical, emotional and purposeful.

Let us look at each of these areas in turn.

Mental Wellbeing

Resilient people are able to adopt a rational mindset to the challenges they face.  They recognise that allowing unhelpful thinking patterns such as catastrophising, taking things personally and over-generalising undermine their mental well-being and need to be avoided.  They focus their mind on the things they can change or influence and not on the what cannot be changed or that are out of their control.  Set-backs are recognised as learning opportunities and can help build their resilience, rather than undermine or weaken it.

Physical Wellbeing

Maintaining a healthy exercise routine, ensuring a well-balanced diet, getting enough (and the right sort of!) sleep and finding time to relax are essential components to physical wellbeing and in developing resilience.  All of these components have been found to also help our mental wellbeing through improved focus, memory, decision-making and problem-solving.

Emotional Wellbeing

Resilient people are very aware of their own emotional reactions to challenging circumstances and are able to manage these reactions appropriately when under pressure.  They are able to stay calm and maintain a sense of perspective and optimism when dealing with adverse situations, recognising that such situations won’t last forever.  When dealing with others they are able to behave assertively, respecting the rights and needs of others whilst standing up for their own rights and needs. They do not resort to unhelpful aggressive or passive behaviours as they understand these can diminish their resilience.

Purposeful Wellbeing

Having a strong sense of purpose, underpinned by a set of values and ethics, is a core characteristic of resilient people.  They recognise how having this sense of purpose helps them maintain their self-motivation and keep going when dealing with adversity . They are also adaptable when circumstances change that affect their goals but they do not compromise on their values, ethics or overall purpose.  They understand the importance of having a strong support network around them with whom they can confide and share their feelings.  They have well-developed strategies for managing their time and personal organisation which enables them to stay focused on achieving their goals and overall purpose.

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At the 3Qhub Spring Conference ‘Building Your Resilience’ on 17 March 2023, we have engaged a panel of expert speakers who will be looking at these four core areas of wellbeing in more depth. They will be helping delegates to develop their skills, behaviours and knowledge in these areas and thereby help them to build their own resilience and the resilience of their team members .