Do you want to know how to become more resilient in your day to day life?

Feel better able to cope with the demands of work, life, training, diet…?

Then this article is for you.

Resilience can be defined as the role that our mental processes and behaviours play in promoting and protecting an individual from the potential negative effects of stressors[i]. That is, it’s a skill that can enhance, maintain and protect an individual’s mental health in high-pressure situations.

As well as improving general wellbeing – a sense of happiness, satisfaction with life and a perception of a high quality of life – the ability to demonstrate psychological resilience and the ability to bounce back in the face of stressors has been shown to support normal execution of daily activities[ii].

In other words, your mental robustness in the face of high-pressure can translate itself to normal day-to-day life.

Importantly, as I said, RESILIENCE is a SKILL, which means that it can be developed.

HOW?

By putting yourself in challenging situations, where with the right amount of support you can demonstrate to yourself that you are able to overcome whatever circumstance you are faced with[iii].

The key, therefore, is to find the right balance between “challenge” and “support”[iv]:

CHALLENGE YOURSELF BY:

• Setting high expectations

• Taking sensible risks

• Undertake challenging goals

MAKE SURE YOU’RE SUPPORTED BY:

• Surrounding yourself with a psychologically safe environment

• Do you have a coach in your corner?

• Is there a team surrounding you?

• Learning from your mistakes

• Make sure your goals are yours and take ownership of these

It may take a bit of fine-tuning, but when the challenge and support balance are just right, you’ll be on the path to becoming more resilient.

And if you’d like support and accountability in the process of practicing resilience through your health, exercise, and fitness routines, get in touch to find out about how I can help.

Clara Swedlund MSc MBPsS

[i] Fletcher, D. and Sarkar, M., 2012. A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions. Psychology of sport and exercise, 13(5), pp.669-678.

[ii] Galli, N. and Gonzalez, S.P., 2015. Psychological resilience in sport: A review of the literature and implications for research and practice. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 13(3), pp.243-257.

[iii] Fletcher, D. and Sarkar, M., 2013. Psychological resilience: A review and critique of definitions, concepts, and theory. European Psychologist, 18(1), p.12

[iv] Fletcher, D. and Sarkar, M., 2016. Mental fortitude training: An evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 7(3), pp.135-157