Building Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience means: 

• The ability to recover from set-backs 

• The strength to live with uncertainty 

• Learning to grow, not crumble, through adversity 

So how can we do this? 

📷 Develop a sense of perspective. This takes time! Imagine using a camera lens: how do you see the situation from your point of view? Now, consider how it might look from a different perspective. How do other see it, and in what ways could their view be valid? Extend this analogy by thinking long-term, using a 'longer camera lens'. How important will this issue be in 6 months? If not, how could we intentionally spend less time worrying about it now? 

🎈 Practice being in the moment. It’s very easy to spend time and energy worrying about the past or the future.  What about focusing on ‘now’. What activities help you achieve this? Whether it's sports, time with loved ones, or being fully engaged in your work, how can you make time for the things that absorb you? 

🧘 Meditation can aid in this practice. It's not about emptying your mind but about acknowledging the thoughts and emotions that flow through it and creating a healthy distance from them. Check out this short cartoon clip for more insights.

👻 Be aware of FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real. Do you tend to expect the worst? It's a common tendency. How can you challenge these thoughts and consider alternative perspectives? 

🎾 Practice makes perfect, just like altering thought patterns. Novak Djokovic says, ‘It takes more than one sit-up to make a six-pack.’ This holds true for mindfulness and is a metaphor for personal growth. Persist in this practice, and research indicates that the neural pathways in your brain will adapt!

What one aspect of your thinking would you like to improve? 

Building resilience is a very common theme in executive coaching and effective leadership training. If you’d like an informal chat I’d love to hear from you. 

Kate Jennings