Building Resilience: Tips for Strengthening Your Mindset

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life and work much more stressful and exhausting for everyone -- it requires resilience. Resilience is your ability to deal with change, recover from setbacks or disappointments, and cope with life stressors in general.

Here are some easy ways to cultivate resilience so that you overcome any difficulties in your life:

Strengths & Weaknesses

Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. Being able to identify them is an essential step to becoming more resilient. 

You can do this by asking yourself these questions: 

• What things are easy for you? 
• What things are hard for you? 

Think carefully and answer honestly. The things that come easily for you are your strengths, and the things that feel like a struggle are your weaknesses. 

Weaknesses aren't anything to feel ashamed of; everyone has them. But to build resilience, you'll want to focus on your strengths. Enhancing your strengths can make you feel more confident in your abilities. 

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Coping Skills

Building resilience requires you to strengthen your existing coping skills while also adopting new ones. Research the various coping skills that you might add to your life. Some common ones are exercise, meditation, and spending time in nature. 

Confidant Health provides information on coping skills in our Learning Library and through our care providers. Once you've chosen suitable coping skills for your lifestyle, try to put them into practice regularly.

Optimism

Being optimistic is easier said than done, but it helps to focus on the positive as much as possible. Optimism is a quality that most resilient people have. 

Optimistic people are much better at dealing with challenges and overcoming hardships. This is because they can easily see the positive in every situation - no matter how difficult. When you can do this, it becomes much easier to handle challenges.

Stay Calm

Try your best to avoid panic or anger as these emotions make it harder for you to assess the problem or start working on a solution clearly. By remaining calm, you can consciously respond instead of instinctively react. Take deep breaths and remind yourself that it's only temporary and things will get better.

Get Support

Reach out to others for the support that you need. Talking about what's bothering you and getting things off your chest can alleviate difficult feelings during challenging times. 

Call your friends and family. Talk to them openly about your experiences. There's no need to put on a brave face. Rather be honest. 

Also, remember to ask them how they're doing and not just talk about yourself. By helping and supporting others, you'll feel better, too, which will enhance your confidence and resilience.

Finally, know that you can also get support and guidance from Confidant Health. Our highly-trained professionals are here to assist and help you throughout your treatment process. Since becoming more resilient isn't something that happens overnight, it's best to accept help from the sources available to you.

There are numerous ways to be more resilient over time, and these methods will make it easier for you to deal with challenges. Focus on your strengths and coping skills while staying calm and optimistic, and never forget that you have a support system.

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