Some people are naturally more resilient than others, the important thing to remember is that resilience is a trait that can be learned and developed. It’s fairly safe to say that the most resilient adults are those who have learned to be a little tougher after each obstacle they’ve overcome. Here are three ways to develop mental resilience:
1. Always stretch yourself. Resilience is developed, in part, through failure. If you never take a risk, and never put yourself in a position to fail, you can never develop the toughness you need to pick yourself up and try again. If all of your goals are easy to achieve, you will never develop resilience.
2. Be clear about what you want. Studies show that people are most resilient when working toward something they are passionate about. If you are not 100% committed to a goal, you will find it easy to quit. Quitting doesn’t help you develop resilience, in fact, it can erode your confidence if you continue to quit when the going gets tough.
3. Learn from your failures. If you look at failures as feedback and you learn from the experience, it make it easier to try again. This is because you head back into the challenge armed with additional knowledge and information that make it more likely that you will succeed in the future. Remember that learning “what not to do” is just as important as learning what to do. Every failure gives you the opportunity to grow and learn. Remember to seize every opportunity.
Resilience doesn’t often come easy, but it is well worth the effort. As you test your resilience and see yourself rise to occasion after occasion, you will gain confidence in taking on even greater challenges. Over time, there is truly no limit to what you can achieve when your mind is tough enough to bounce back from any obstacle put in your way. You become unstoppable!