Magic cure resilience
Daily, we read how important resilience is and that we should be more resilient. Our often hectic live seem to take on new dimensions of stress and strain. How can we counter all this? Well, what does resilience actually mean, and how can I help you be more resilient?
First a brief digression into etymology: «Resilience» is derived from the Latin verb «resilire», which means «to spring back», «to get back on one's feet». It therefore describes the ability to arm oneself against internal and external influences in such a way that one returns to one's original state, and physical and psychological well-being are restored.
Resilience - a question of stress and resources
Sounds simple, but many time the stresses in our lives are so burdensome, and it is hard to see a way out of the difficult situations. Stress torpedoes our resilience and depletes our resources. Everyday work and private life issues become increasing challenging, and seem not to mastered without a good measure of resilience.
In the working world, the resilience theme has long been part of performance evaluations, with employees assessed in terms of their "resilience skills". But, not everyone is granted «healthy» resilience, and different people deal with stress differently.
Self-reflection
The good news is: you can learn to strengthen your resilience. It is not an easy task, but it is worth embarking on the adventure. It means working with and on yourself, reflecting on your own handling of difficult situations, and getting to know yourself.
In doing so, self-questioning is inevitable «What does self-management look like to me? How do I deal with stress, and what is my attitude towards stress? What are my strengths and my weaknesses? What values are important to me and what degree of external control do I allow? What are my habits and behavioral patterns, conscious or unconscious, and are these getting in the way of my personal development?»
Self-determination
Coming to terms with oneself is a process of training self-awareness and self-reflection. Without going on the self-reflection journey, hurdles are much harder to tackle and little change to the self occurs.
By addressing these questions, one takes the lead in determining how shape a situation and find a healthy way of dealing with challenges that ultimately leads to a happy and fulfilling life.
Reading
Highly recommended in the field of resilience research is «The resilient person» by Kalisch Raffael. His book provides valuable tips for more self-efficacy and addresses the interaction of body and mind, as well as the mechanisms behind self-determination, optimism and stress resistance.
Opmerkingen