Mental Health Practices To Cultivate Resilience

Resilience is the ability to face adversity, overcome challenges, and grow. It’s about developing tools to move through hard times and learn from your experiences. Resilience isn’t something you are born with: anyone can practice and build resilience. Many New Year’s resolutions revolve around becoming stronger and more resilient.

1. Develop a growth mindset.

Having a growth mindset means seeing life’s challenges as opportunities for learning. It’s the belief that a person’s abilities aren’t fixed: they can develop new strengths and skills.

When something difficult happens, you don’t retreat or turn away. Instead, you face the situation knowing you will become stronger and learn a helpful lesson that will benefit you in the future.

Here are some ways to cultivate a growth mindset:

• Learn to embrace your imperfections.
• Have realistic expectations of what you can accomplish.
• Value and accept constructive criticism.
• Embrace the journey of learning through your experiences.
• Take risks, even if that means making mistakes.
• Reframe the idea of failure as learning from your errors.
• Give yourself the time and space to work through challenges.

2. Practice self-care.

Self-care is known to increase resilience. You can’t move through difficulties if you aren’t physically, emotionally, and mentally well.

Self-care means identifying and making time for activities that nourish you. It might mean taking a bubble bath or reading a book. However, it’s often about setting boundaries to prioritize your needs.

Common self-care strategies include the following:

• Write and reflect on thoughts, feelings, and life events.
• Eat a nutrient-rich, balanced diet.
• Engage in regular physical activity that you enjoy.
• Prioritize getting enough sleep.
• Practice daily habits to relieve stress, such as meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness.

3. Set realistic goals.

Setting realistic goals means breaking down challenges into smaller, more manageable parts—setting you up for more wins and helping you move forward. You’ll build resilience as you meet your goals more often and learn from those challenges.

For instance, if your goal is to run a 5K and you don’t have a regular running routine, it may not be realistic to expect you’ll be marathon-ready in a week. Instead, you might gradually build up your skills as a runner, jogging more and more each day until you’ve built up the endurance to run one mile, then two miles, until you are ready for your 5K.

Here are some tips for setting achievable goals:

• Break up your bigger goals into smaller steps.
• Make sure each step toward your goal is realistic and doable.
• Commit to each step and make working toward your goal a daily practice.
• Reach out to people who are working toward similar goals for support.
• Be patient with yourself if you run into roadblocks or if reaching your goal takes longer than expected.
• Celebrate each accomplishment along the way.

4. Embrace change and flexibility.

People who are rigid in their thinking and can’t adapt when things go wrong can struggle with resilience. Resilience is dependent on the ability to change course when necessary, embrace imperfection, and learn from the unexpected.

Here are some concrete ways to do this:

• Understand that change and instability are part of life, and you can only control your reaction.
• Try to see the bigger picture. Know that overreacting to difficult situations does not help you move forward.
• Become more mindful of inflexible or fixed thoughts, such as “It’s always going to be this way!” or “There’s no way I’m doing that.”
• Try to remain hopeful, even as life throws you curveballs. Difficult circumstances can be unexpected, but so can good ones.

5. Build problem-solving skills.

Learning how to solve problems effectively is an important step in building resilience. Becoming a more successful problem solver involves developing a toolbox of skills to tackle problems with strategies that work.

Here are some steps to consider:

• Start by identifying the problem you are trying to solve.
• Describe the problem by voicing it out loud or writing it down.
• Try to determine the cause of the problem.
• Develop several different possible solutions to the problem.
• Try one or more of the solutions.
• Note the results, and keep experimenting until you find a solution that works.

Having the right mindset for solving problems is important. Here are some tips:

• Do your best to stay calm when you face obstacles.
• Understand that solving problems isn’t always straightforward, and you may run into issues along the way.
• Remind yourself of your problem-solving strategies.
• Adapt to changes and practice flexibility.
• Reach out for support when needed.

6. Try mindfulness and meditation.

Mindfulness and meditation can help you relax, but they can also help you stay strong when facing adversity. There is no one “correct” method. The idea is to weave mindfulness and meditation practices into your daily life in whatever way works for you.

Mindfulness meanstrying to live with more awareness of the present moment. For example, try to concentrate on the present moment while doing everyday tasks like cooking, cleaning, eating, and walking. You can also take time to focus on your breathing or how your emotions feel in your body.

Meditation is aboutclearing your mind. It can help promote relaxation and mindfulness. There are many ways to meditate, such as:

• Pray.
• Take a meditative walk.
• Use a guided meditation app.
• Do a guided body scan.
• Spend time lying still and listening to calming music.
• Practice meditative yoga.

7. Journal and reflect.

Journaling and reflecting on your life, feelings, and experiences is a powerful way to become more in tune with yourself and build resilience. For instance, a recent study found that journaling was a helpful way for new college students to maintain life satisfaction during a time of transition. Journaling also increased resilience among these students.

You don’t have to be a writer, or even an aspiring writer, to journal. To foster reflection through journaling, you can:

• Write down your thoughts as they come to you first thing in the morning.
• Write out a list of worries at night so that you can get them out of your mind.
• Keep a daily gratitude list.
• Write about what happened to you during the day or during a particular incident in your life, reflecting on what you learned and what lessons you will hold onto for the future.

What Resilience Looks Like

Resilience is a practice everyone can learn. However, people who have built up their resilience often share certain defining characteristics, many of which you can develop. For example:

• Optimism
• Problem-solving approach
• Forgiveness
• High level of acceptance
• Taking responsibility for your actions and needs
• Growth mindset
• Accepting constructive criticism
• Close and trusting relationships with others
• Ability to recover after hardships or traumas

Resilient individuals also tend to have some adaptive characteristics that make it easier to navigate life’s challenges. These can include high self-confidence and self-esteem, a sense of humor, flexibility, and the ability to remain hopeful despite adversity.

Overcoming Obstacles

Developing resilience takes time, and it doesn’t mean life won’t ever feel difficult or stressful. The key is to learn and adopt strategies that help you move through difficult experiences and feelings with awareness, grace, and growth.

Resilience needs to be practiced, like a muscle that needs strengthening. You must be intentional. Psychology experts have highlighted these strategies:

• Maintain healthy and positive relationships with others.
• Accept that life presents obstacles that are beyond your control.
• Do your best to live with an optimistic, hopeful outlook.
• Keep the big picture in mind and adopt a perspective that supports your goals.

You can always seek support if you have difficulty moving through hardships despite working on your resilience skills. A licensed therapist can help you navigate life’s challenges, address your emotional and mental well-being, and learn tools to become more resilient.