Strengthen resilience: This is how you train your psychological resilience

Did you know that successful and confident boxers, chess players, researchers or stay-at-home fathers have (at least) one thing in common? They all have mental resilience , i.e. psychological resistance . If you like to take on new challenges, if you don't let smaller and larger hurdles in life stop you, you have it too. Or to put it better: you have more of it.

 

This guide is about what resilience is and how you can strengthen it. “ I can do it ” will quickly become your new motto. Shall we get started? Then your resilience training begins here.

 

What exactly is resilience?

If you want to strengthen your psychological resilience, you first have to know what that is. The term goes back to the US psychologist Jack Block . In a long-term study, he highlighted resilience in small children for the first time. However, the term was really made prominent by US researcher Emmy Werner , who showed in 1971 that many children on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i grew into mature and responsible adults despite poor conditions and opportunities.

 

Today the term has become an integral part of everyday life. Resilience (actually mental resilience) describes psychological resistance - i.e. the ability to mentally deal better with adversities in everyday life. Thanks to mental resilience, loss, fear, failure and other negative aspects are better coped with and overcome or processed more quickly. The reason: Resilient people can adapt more quickly to new circumstances.

 

How does resilience help at work and in everyday life?

It is not for nothing that resilience training is recommended for managers : only if team leaders, heads or CEOs can adapt quickly and, above all, confidently to new challenges can teams and companies react quickly and in a way that conserves resources.

 

And how do we translate this from the business world for those who think ahead and think ahead, for athletes, for moms and dads, children, grandparents and the like?

 

By looking at what resilience actually consists of. And how we can use and use this in our everyday lives :

 

Mental resilience stands on these seven pillars

At this point we have to tell you briefly about Ursula Nuber : The qualified psychologist and former editor-in-chief of the specialist magazine “Psychology Today” is considered the “mother” of the seven pillars of psychological resilience . She developed this model, defined it and made it the standard for everyone who wants to take resilience training seriously. Optimism, acceptance and solution orientation are the three basic attitudes . The other four pillars are called action aspects . Below we briefly introduce the seven pillars:

 

Optimism: Resilience means hope

The main thing here is that even in crises or when you are under a lot of stress, you think about it and believe that this difficult time will pass again. The mantra of confidence: “What I am experiencing right now is temporary. I will survive it ".

 

Acceptance: Resilience thanks to insight

Do you know the phrase “ learning to accept something”? That’s what acceptance is all about. You can strengthen your resilience by accepting that there is a crisis or that you are facing a challenge. Only when you accept the problem do you recognize it - and can then look for sensible solutions. Do you notice the parallels here to challenges in mental sports, endurance sports or in your everyday family life?

 

Solution orientation: Resilience always finds a way out

Once you have accepted a challenge and are sure that you can overcome it, you can start to focus on solutions . Very important here: Don't look for one solution, but find as many approaches as possible to overcome a hurdle. Resilience and solution orientation belong together. Instead of running away from a problem (which is normal, but unfortunately often only leads to more problems), approach the challenge - and find a way to overcome it.

 

Get out of the victim role, you play the main role

One of the most important exercises to strengthen your resilience is the idea that you play the main role in your life . So you leave the victim role and take the helm in your hands. Be aware of what you can do. Trust in your skills and talents. This can help you everywhere – whether during sports, in everyday life or at work.

 

Take responsibility: It's your life

If you take responsibility for what you do, you can leave the victim role and actively shape your life. This pillar represents the transition from guilt to active action: you can influence your now and master it. You are not helpless at the mercy of fate.

 

Bond: All for one, one for all!

Did you know that a nice evening with friends is excellent resilience training? By surrounding yourself with good people and maintaining your social contacts, you strengthen your psychological resilience. Of course, this can not only strengthen resilience in adults - children also benefit enormously from a stable, positive and resilient environment.

 

Planning for the future: living here and now and tomorrow

Now the circle is complete. Only if we plan our future , visualize it and actively work to make it happen can we develop healthy optimism . Sure: not everything in our lives is in our hands. But we have a firm grip on what we can control and influence.

Strengthen resilience and then deliver: With a little training, you can overcome any challenge.

Resilience training: This is what you can do to strengthen your psychological resilience

You can train resilience. Above all, you should train resilience because: Mental resilience enables you to cope better in almost every situation in life. You can adapt better to challenges , you live less stress - and can therefore concentrate better on the here and now.

You can strengthen resilience with a few simple exercises. Stress resilience in particular is a valuable ally in your everyday life. All the better if we pay a lot of attention to it.

 

The seven pillars are your base

If you have read this guide carefully so far, you know what the seven pillars of mental resilience are. Whether optimism, acceptance or solution orientation: If you become aware of the seven pillars, you can optimize your resilience training. You can ask yourself a few questions about each pillar in a quiet minute - and if you find the answers to them, that's the perfect starting point for everything that comes next.

 

For example, build a worst-case scenario. And then ask yourself how bad the situation would really be. What solutions would you be able to find? If family and friends were there for you, which of your skills could help you overcome the obstacle? Whether it's a marathon, a mental exercise, work or family: If you think about how you would react to a problem with optimism , acceptance and solutions , you arm yourself - and are already in the middle of resilience training. Also because you take responsibility, focus on yourself and thereby leave the role of victim - this way you can strengthen your stress resilience without actually having to be stressed.

 

Mental training: exercises for acceptance, optimism and solution orientation

Mental training can help you strengthen your resilience. It is very important to recognize and promote your self-esteem. For example, you can use positive affirmations : Tell yourself every morning what you like about yourself, what your strengths are and how you want to go about your everyday life. Also deal with the flow state and meditation . Here you will find further inspiration on how you can prepare yourself mentally and, above all, strengthen yourself. Resilience always starts in our heads!

Also important: Every now and then, become aware of where you are, what you are doing, how you are feeling. Try to express your emotions and thoughts clearly - to others or in self-talk. A good tip here: keep a diary. And write down exactly when you were overwhelmed and when you were underchallenged, when you were happy and when you were stressed. Evaluate your challenges too. This is how you learn to distinguish problems from trivialities. This is easy on your nerves and saves energy!

 

Relaxation exercises for stress

Resilience always means coping with stress . We'll tell you how you can strengthen stress resilience in our own guide . That’s how important the topic is to us!

 

Strengthen resilience thanks to friendships and family

We already mentioned it above: bonds are essential for healthy mental resilience. Circles of friends and family strengthen resilience in children and adults by providing support, giving affirmations and helping to find solutions. Therefore: Strengthen your stress resilience by surrounding yourself with nice people who love you. This can help you anywhere. If you know that there is always someone who has your back, nothing and no one can actually harm you.

 

Reinterpret, rephrase, be grateful

Resilience training always means self-awareness . That's why you can take a close look at which of your characteristics and actions you don't like. Focus primarily on those that stress you out, that challenge your resilience and generally make you feel really uncomfortable. For example, you can:

 

Reinterpret negative habits and weaknesses. For example, “I'm always so rushed when it comes to urgent tasks” becomes “I take my tasks seriously, that's why I'm doing my best here”.

 

Rephrase beliefs and characterizations. Words have power. So if you keep repeating in a mantra-like manner that you “hate rain,” you are manifesting this. To the point where you're literally paralyzed when it rains. You have limited your scope of action. If “I hate rain” turns into “Whenever it rains, I enjoy the noise it makes and make myself comfortable,” it doesn’t change the bad weather, but it does give you the ability to take action.

 

Recognize yourself in a situation and be grateful for it. If you accept (see the corresponding column) that you are capable of acting in a situation, that you have it under control to a certain extent, you are much more likely to develop gratitude. If you are currently climbing a mountain (not in danger of your life, of course!), this gratitude could be directed at the fact that you have the time and freedom to pursue this hobby. You are here because you want to be here. With all the consequences. The resilience you develop as a result can then help you achieve that final hold or jump.

 

Stay in control by preparing. As I said: you have your life in your hands. You are resilient, you are the lead in your film. This also includes making it clear to you at all times what lies ahead. If you are surprised by challenges too often, you will become more and more of a “victim” because things just happen to you instead of you causing them. Therefore, prepare well. Think through scenarios (including worst-case scenarios) in your head beforehand. Pack your suitcase or bag neatly. Make time for the children. Create a training plan, set professional milestones or simply come to the concert a little earlier. And very important: what you eat can massively help you stay focused. Whether it's breakfast, regular meals, lots of water or dextrose products from Dextro Energy*: if you're well looked after, you'll get more done.

 

* contains carbohydrates

A varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle are important

SOURCES

Emmy Werner: Vulnerable, but Invincible. Adams, Bannister and Cox, New York 1982

Jenny JW Liu, Natalie Ein, Julia Gervasio, Mira Battaion, Maureen Reed: Comprehensive meta-analysis of resilience interventions. In: Clinical Psychology Review. Volume 82, December 2020, p. 101919, doi : 10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101919

https://www.bmz.de/de/service/lexikon/70564-70564

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