Resilience increases our ability to cope with stressors. It is also called “The ability of people to recover quickly from shock, injury, etc.” (Hornby, 2022, p. 954)
And the good part is …
… everyone can learn being resilient. So did I.
Go over this chapter to discover how you can develop resilience.
Source of images:
Mohamed_hassan (2017, September 20). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/de/vectors/alt-mann-gehen-anzug-binden-2769666/
Aalmeidah (2022, May 13). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/bäume-feld-hügel-berge-wald-7191822/
Source of content:
Hornby, A. S. (1995). Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary (5th ed.). Cornelsen & Oxford.
Ortiz-Ospina, E. & Roser, M. (2017, May). Happiness and Life Satisfaction. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction#citation
Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. Excli j, 16, 1057-1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579396/
💪🏼 Mental Strength in challenging times
This is why we need resilience …
Source of image: RosZie. (2022, October 19). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/psychische-gesundheit-psychologie-7529899/
Source of content:
Tay, P. K. C., & Lim, K. K. (2020). Psychological resilience as an emergent characteristic for well-being: A pragmatic view. Gerontology, 66, 476-483. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509210 https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/509210)
Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. Excli j, 16, 1057-1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579396/)
🧠 The impact of resilience
Since you’ve already gotten a small glimpse about what resilience is, we are ready to dive deeper. 🤿
In this video the health insurance AXA explains the impact of resilience in more detail:
Resilience does not only influence our mental health in a positive way, but also our physical health. Resilience literally protects us from poor health.
Curious? Move on to the next chapter.
AXA – Global Healthcare. (2019, October 10). What Is Resilience: Top 5 Tips To Improve Your Resilience [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASDBJXDNqvc
🛡️ Resilience protects us from poor health
🧐 Methods
📖 Results
💡 1 Unit of resilience reduces poor health and well-being for 0.102–0.378 units
- Functional limitations
- Depressive symptoms
- Self-rated health
- Activities of daily living
🤿 Dive deep in the effect of resilience on functional limitations
- Walking one block
- Climbing one flight of stairs
- Lifting or carrying 10 pounds
- Picking a dime up off the ground
- Stooping, kneeling or crouching
- Pushing or pulling large objects
But how can we increase our resilience? Find the answer in the next chapter.
Taylor, M. G., & Carr, D. (2020). Psychological Resilience and Health Among Older Adults: A Comparison of Personal Resources. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(6), 1241-1250. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa116 (https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/76/6/1241/5880617?login=false)
📈 How can we increase our resilience?
We’ve already learned about the importance and the huge impact of resilience. Here are some hands on tips for you to increase resilience:
Forgive yourself for mistakes and practice gentle self-judgment
Take time for self reflection. Could it be that you were too strict with yourself?
Cultivate a positive mindset and focus on the bright side of things
Whenever you feel defeated by a challenge, think about what you’ve achieved before.
Practice gratitude and appreciate the good things in your life
Write down 5 things you are grateful (every day).
Take a moment to slow down and calm yourself when emotionally triggered
Whenever there is a stressful situation, take a moment, breath in and out and try to gain distance to the actual problem.
Samuel, M. (2020, March 08). Three New Strategies For Building Your Resilience. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/03/08/three-new-strategies-for-building-your-resilience/?sh=684560b93750
➕ Additional tips - shown in the Axa video
- 🪓 Break the problem down
- 👨👨👦👦 Build your support network
It is easier to manage problems in smaller pieces.
Everyone needs support at some point. Different opinions help you to have new perspectives.
- ➕ Focus on the positives
Stay optimistic!
- 🧘🏼♂️ Look after yourself
Whenever we feel good and comfortable we can be more productive.
- ⛔Know your limits
Be kind to yourself and take also breaks.
AXA – Global Healthcare. (2019, October 10). What Is Resilience: Top 5 Tips To Improve Your Resilience [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASDBJXDNqvc
✅ Task: Do you remember the situation you thought about before? (a situation which stresses you regularly?) If not click here and go back.
Here is your task:
☔ Resilience - a poem by Alex Elle
“Look at you.
Still standing
after being
knocked down
and thrown out.
Still growing
after being
picked and plucked
and prodded out of
your home.
Look at you.
Still dancing
and singing
after being
defeated and disassembled.
Look at you ‘…’.
Still here and hopeful
after it all.” (Kinsey, 2023)
Source of content: Kinsey, E. (2023, May 19). 10 Poems to help support our mental health. Yours. https://www.yours.co.uk/wellbeing/health/mental-health-poems/
Source of image: RosZie (2022, September 14). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/widerstandsfähigkeit-regen-frau-7451906/
🧘🏼♀️ Takeaways The resilient mindset
- Resilience promotes your health
- Be forgiving and not too strict with yourself
- Stay optimistic and keep a positive mindset
- Be grateful and happy about the good things in your life
- Be proud of yourself
🏁 Goals: The resilient mindset
This space is for your personal goals setting.
💡 How it works
The aim is for you to think of at least 2 goals that are in line with the main questions below.
After you have written down your personal goals, you should think of at least one task for each goal that you want to achieve this month.
At the end of the month, you can evaluate your actions and goals using the template below.
Below you will find some examples and ideas
🏃🏼Let’s start
The main questions are: Are taking care of your mental health? How do you take care of yourself?
✅ Tasks:
- Write down at least 2 goals
- Write down at least one to-do for every goal
- Evaluate your success after one month
1. Your goals
💡 Some ideas:
2. To-Dos
3. Evaluation
🎉 Congratulations you finished all sections of “Well-Aging: Embracing a good life”
Move on to “The Journey's End: Concluding Remarks”. There you find some cloncluding words.