Are you Resilient?

'Resilience', the word has such a nice ring to it and we tend to use it so commonly. Each one of us practice it at some or the other time, it's sum total of our personal experiences along with the need of the hour, for the most part.? Interestingly, it is a ‘Skill’, not innate and not connected to one’s personality or characteristic of an individual.? That means, its acquired and gets stronger with practice. ?I was surprised to learn that it’s a ‘Skill’, leaning into my curiosity about the fundamental concept led me to read more about it, dwell upon and I infer the below.

Starting with the basics, ‘Resilience is a human adaptation process, and well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress.? This means, we are in a way left with not many choices in the face of adversity, but practice Resilience!? Putting it in simple words, it’s a process one adheres to cope mentally and emotionally and bounce back or return to the previous status quickly.

APA, American Psychological Association, a scientific and professional organization that represents Psychologists in the United States, does considerable work in the area of Psychology, defines Resilience as "a process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.”

There are interesting studies, theories and works done in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, which state as Resilience being complex.? And as a construct it can have different meanings between people, companies, cultures and society.? People can be more resilient at one point in their lives and less during another.? The skill can be learnt during the early childhood development, or as an adolescent, young adult or in middle age, while navigating through every difficult situation, one’s resilience grows.

We saw this more so during the times of Covid 19 pandemic.? Across countries, cultures and societies, we saw why and how differently people responded to stress and adversity caused by the pandemic. ?Then, it was a capacity to live, at the same time develop with change and uncertainty, which is well beyond just the ability to bounce back to the status quo.? It involved the individual’s capacity to absorb shocks, avoid tipping points, navigate surprises and keep options alive and innovate and transform too.

According to Dr. Steven Southwick, one of the world's leading experts on psychological traumatization and human resilience, the virtue goes much beyond the ability to bend but not break, bounce back or grow amidst the life experiences. While attempting to understand and defining resilience, it’s important to give a thought on how one is perceiving it - as a trait, a process or an outcome.

As per Southwick, it is also a binary approach in considering whether it is present or absent. He further states that, resilience is more likely exists on a continuum that may be present to differing degrees across multiple domains of life.? An individual who adapts well to stress in a workplace or in an academic setting, may fail to adapt well in their personal life or in their relationships.

There are different examples for resilience. There is -

Emotional resilience, in which we tap into optimism in a crisis.

Physical resilience is the body’s ability to adapt to challenges and recover.

Community resilience, an ability where groups of people respond to and recover from adverse situations such as natural disasters.?

Organizational resilience is more so relevant to the changing business scenarios.

Just as people can develop their resilience, organizations can learn to rebound from and adapt after facing challenges. Organizational resilience can be thought of as “a ‘culture of resilience,’ which manifests itself as a form of ‘psychological immunity’” to incremental and transformational changes, according to Boston Consulting Group Fellow Dr. George Stalk.

The Japanese link the attitude of resilience to Ikigai, or life purpose. They believe that people who clearly know their ikigai—their reason for being—tend to develop resilience in their pursuit of it.? According to them, Resilience is?the ability to handle setbacks and just keep going.

Well, every culture has their own way of looking and practicing Resilience. Most factors point to a few common aspects that are reflected upon, which helps in building or increasing Resilience.?

Common factors to increase resilience

Interestingly, its all about relationships – positive relationships, with self, important people in one’s life, friends, peers and others. Prioritizing relationships and connecting with people at an empathetic level will make one feel not being ‘all alone’ in the midst of difficulties. Focusing on finding trust worthy and compassionate individuals who validate feelings of another person will support the skill of Resilience.

If one observes a resilient person, they have a very unique coping mechanisms to manage stress and adversity effectively.? Seldom they throw a tantrum or lose the edge, its mostly going back to basics, starting with accepting the reality, practicing mindfulness or techniques of relaxation, which ever works best for the individual. Its important to stay positive and ward off negative thoughts, and come up with one’s own repertoire of effective coping skills, which in turn will strengthen resilience in the face of adversity.

Another effective tool to increase resilience is practicing mindfulness. And this, in my opinion is very individualistic and depends on the culture and society one lives in. Be it meditation, breathing techniques, running or yoga, it all depends on what works for the person.? If one is able to connect the body and mind and build connections, which can prime them to deal with the situations or simply be humble and have conversations with self to garner the required resilience.? Some write, journal, travel, sing and practice other spiritual practices, whatever works.

Above all this, is cultivating a sense of purpose and meaning.? Cultivating a sense of purpose through meaningful activities, relationships and contributions to others fosters resilience and enhances psychological well-being.? Maybe, it makes sense to lean into the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where he talks about the final and top need of ‘Self-actualization’, the highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy, and refer to the realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences.

Another aspect which helps build resilience is effective communications, apparently, promotes emotional intelligence and self-awareness, both crucial for resilience.? Expressing emotions through words seldom comes easily for everyone, but we all do it in our own little ways.? With which we develop a deeper understanding of oneself and through people around.

So, at the end of it, what I learnt is, by cultivating the relevant factors and with an effort to integrate it in one’s life, one can enhance self-resilience and better navigate facing challenges in life.

#resilience #postivepsychology #psychology #StevenSouthwick #wellbeing #personaldevelopment #pscyhologycontent #howtoincreaseresilience