One of the four components in psychological capital which is incredibly vital for us all right now, is the third component of Resilience. We have covered Hope and Self-efficacy in previous weeks, and the topic of Resilience is on the lips of most companies, services, community support programs and individuals, as we continue to face unprecedented challenges right now with the constant resurgence of global unknowns relating to the Pandemic.
Many people are struggling with lockdown fatigue, the trauma of saying farewell to loved ones either through online funerals or not at all, the hardship of separation, being unable to hug and maintain connections with those around us, the uncertainty of what is on offer for teenagers leaving school, and the complexity of constantly stretching parents to home-school their children alongside wanting to maintain their workload, relationships, family life and health.
These are impossible situations and unparalleled for the majority of us living in 2021. We have never had to deal with such things before.
How do we deal with these things?
How do we face each new day of uncertainty with some form of Hope or Optimism?
How do we retain our Self-efficacy, and above all how do we maintain and strengthen our Resilience, when it is being constantly eroded piece by piece?
These strategies may seem too simple to address the enormity of the challenges we face on a daily basis, but there are decades of research to back up the fact that they work!
- Believe that you can grow resilience – regardless of the setback you are experiencing.
- Be adaptable and flexible, even spontaneous – these are the foundations of Resilience.
- View the current situation as a temporary challenge – it will not be at this intensity forever.
- Recognise and label your emotions. When we increase our awareness of how we’re feeling and the emotions welling up, we are better able to control our responses to the setback.
- Reframe the “problem”. Change the language – e.g. this is a temporary setback/ it provides an opportunity for me to be flexible.
- Practice being mindful – engaging all your senses in a single task focus (NOT multi-tasking)
- Be compassionate – to YOURSELF first and then others. When the landscape constantly changes, we cannot expect the same outputs. Ease up on yourself.
- Allow yourself (and those around you) to have FUN!! Plan for it, be flexible with it, allow it to arise and erupt!
When we instigate these SIMPLE changes into our lives, we can become more Resilient to BOUNCE FORWARD, not just back to where we once were.
Building higher levels of Resilience is part of our expertise at WALT Institute.
Please reach out if you are struggling and we can help you through this challenging time. Book a chat to access some support for how we can help you solve this tricky problem right now.
Book a call here: https://calendly.com/waltinstitute/discovery-call-with-walt-institute