One of the topics I discuss in my upcoming book, Thriving in Change (working title), is the subject of resilient people. When we go through a change of any kind, our resilience (or lack thereof) can certainly be put to the test.
But wouldn’t it be great to stand tall and brave the storm no matter what you’re going through? Wouldn’t it be great to know how you can strengthen your own resilience and bounce back from change more easily?
Today, we’re beginning a new series on uncovering the 4 traits of resilient people. As you learn more about these traits, you’ll also learn how you can apply each of them to your own life so that you can begin thriving in change.
Resilient people. We admire them. Their journey puts us in awe. We marvel at the goal they held in spite of the odds, at the way they tirelessly pursued that goal, and at the way their spirit was never broken throughout it all – not enough to stop them. They kept going. They kept fighting. They continued to move forward.
We love seeing others triumph. It speaks to us on an emotional level. We root for the underdogs because they remind us that anything is possible, and that we too can beat the odds if we believe in ourselves enough. They inspire us to be better people and to do great things. We want to be just like them.
And, quite frankly, we can. We can become more resilient by modeling our behavior after resilient people. How? It’s simple. Did you know that resilient people tend to exhibit four specific traits across the board? Those traits are:
- Confidence
- Purpose
- Social Support
- Adaptability
It should follow then that if we adopt these traits as our own and work toward growing them and developing ourselves in the process, we can very well achieve resiliency in our own lives. So how do we go about this?
Read on for tips on building each of these traits into your day-to-day routine, starting with confidence.
CONFIDENCE
Something that research shows is that resilient people are committed to continual learning. Why? It seems that building your skills enhances your sense of competence, and as a result, that lends itself to enhanced confidence.
I had a grandmother who lived into her mid-nineties. She was always studying and learning. She claimed it kept her young. I have no doubt it helped her to feel resilient as well. What about you? Do you currently devote any time to personal edification? Do you challenge yourself? Do you give yourself the opportunity to grow and your mind the opportunity to expand? After all, research has shown that even into our sixties and seventies, new brain cells are still growing. Are you putting those new brain cells to good use?
Remember also that confident people focus on what they do well rather than on what they struggle with. Sometimes, we can get so caught up in our failures and so consumed by our weaknesses. We beat ourselves up over these things, not realizing that doing so only diminishes our confidence.
However, when we instead shift our focus to our strengths, the story changes. Suddenly we see that there are things (plenty of them) that we do rather well. When we give them due attention, we increase our confidence levels because these things we do well are typically things that come naturally to us. We hardly have to give a second thought to them. They help us to feel strong and competent.
What are your strengths? What are your abilities? What are your unique talents? Start to bring them centerstage and pay closer attention to them. Celebrate them. Utilise them more frequently. You’ll find that you’ll begin to feel more confident than ever.