Resilience, by definition, is how you react to hardships or situations that affect you negatively. It’s how you cope with tough times and how quickly you can recover. You know you are resilient when you can find a sense of stability during your lowest of lows and your highest of highs.
Build yourself up mentally to fight through these problems and work to better your situation, no matter how impossible it may seem. Once you learn how to become more resilient, you will allow yourself to feel comfortable with change and learn to embrace uncertainty.
Becoming more resilient will even benefit your mental health. Studies have shown that people who are more resilient experience less anxiety and depression due to learning healthy ways to cope.
Not only will you learn how to survive during hard times, but these benefits of being resilient will allow you to THRIVE.
8 Tips to Help You Become More Resilient in Tough Times
1. Practice Positivity
When something happens that may upset you, try to look for the positive in every situation. What can you benefit from going through this situation? It can take time to train your brain to think positively, but you can start by asking yourself how you could look at this situation differently.
Surround yourself with others you look up to who think positively. When you are around people who uplift you and provide helpful, constructive criticism, you will start to think more positively about life.
You can even leave yourself little notes about things you’re grateful for each day. Click here to read 35 Positive Self-Development Ideas Everyone Should Try.
2. Set Goals
When you feel like you’re stuck in a tough situation, try setting goals. You may feel as though your problem is too big for you to handle, but there is ALWAYS something you can do.
Think of small goals that you can achieve that will allow you to better solve what you’re dealing with. Start by sitting down with yourself and your problem.
Write down what you think are small components of your bigger problem. Once you have your list of small things, write down action steps that are specific to your goals.
For example, if you just lost your job, you could set a goal to look for new jobs. Here is a bonus: 20 Things to Do Today If You Lost Your Job. Each time you complete a task, you will feel like you are one step closer to your bigger picture and building resilience.
Give yourself grace when setting your goals. You may want to adjust your goals if you feel as though you’re not seeing any results.
Learn to look at failures as lessons instead of f-ups. By allowing yourself grace, you allow yourself to grow and become more resilient when trying to reach your goals.
Click here to read How to Set Weekly Goals – 9 Guidelines.
3. Have a Support System
Switch the saying around from “misery loves company” to HAPPINESS loves company. When you have people in your life that you can talk to about anything, you allow yourself to have a buffer between you and your stressors.
Knowing that you have someone to talk to if you need to vent or worry about your situation can help ease some of your stress. Build a group of people you know you can talk to when you’re feeling your worst.
You can even seek out others who may be going through what you’re going through. There are workshops, local support groups, and online forums you can use to meet like-minded people.
Not only will you be growing your social circle, but you will also feel like you’re not alone. Hard times happen to everyone at some point in life. When you allow others to know what you’re going through, you allow yourself to gain insight you may not have considered.
Growing your support system can also come from people you already know. Simply checking in on friends and family can strengthen your relationships.
Try scheduling a weekly or monthly hangout with someone you trust. Remind yourself that you can talk to this person when you’re stressed, and they can do the same with you.
Having someone as a backup will help you feel more accepted and reassured that support is available when you’re at your lowest.
Click here to read 15 Ways to Cope with Betrayal and Start Moving On.
4. Take Care of Yourself
It’s easy to forget to take care of yourself when you’re faced with something difficult. You may even feel like your mental strength is being drained. Taking care of yourself allows you to build resilience during hard times.
Self-care can be whatever you want it to be. Some people like to work out because it helps clear their mind. When you exercise, you release endorphins—chemicals in your brain that make you feel happy.
Making time to work out helps keep your body healthy while you process what you’re feeling.
Another important part of self-care is getting enough sleep. When you don’t sleep enough, stress increases and situations feel harder to handle.
Getting 7–8 hours of sleep each night allows your body to recover and prepares you mentally to handle challenges.
5. Accept Change
No one enjoys change, but change is something we all experience. Whether you’re a president or a secretary, change will happen in your life. When you accept that change is inevitable, you open yourself up to growth.
Instead of fighting life’s highs and lows, accept that they are happening and learn to adapt. Resilience allows you to move with change instead of resisting it.
Change can help you if you allow it to. For example, losing a job may feel negative, but it can also be an opportunity to grow or find work you enjoy.
Change shifts expectations—and that’s okay. Life rarely goes exactly as planned.
Accepting change can also strengthen relationships. Instead of pushing people away during difficult times, you learn to communicate and work through challenges together.
Click here to read How to Stop Being Condescending: 10 Tips to Improve Your Behavior.
6. Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment. Take 5–10 minutes to sit quietly, breathe deeply through your nose, and exhale through your mouth.
Focus on your breathing. If your thoughts wander, notice it, tell yourself “I’m thinking,” and gently return to your breath.
Meditation is another useful tool. Guided meditations can help with visualization, progressive muscle relaxation, or body scans.
Practicing mindfulness and meditation increases self-awareness and reduces emotional overwhelm. Over time, you’ll begin to view life with a more positive perspective.
Click here to read 8 Surprising Benefits of Meditation That Can Transform Your Life.
7. Learn From Your Failures
Failure happens to everyone. Something valuable can come from every failure if you allow it.
After failing, ask yourself what you could have done differently and what you can learn from the experience. This reflection helps you identify patterns and break harmful habits.
Instead of calling yourself a failure, recognize that you’ve gained knowledge. Growth comes from mistakes.
Learning from failure also helps you accept that no one is perfect. Be kind to yourself when things don’t go as planned.
This mindset builds confidence and resilience when trying new things.
8. Ask for Help
Asking for help builds resilience for future challenges. Therapists and counselors are trained to help you work through emotions and develop coping strategies.
They want to see you improve and thrive. Asking for help allows you to be vulnerable and gain an outside perspective.
You may feel alone, but you’re not. Bottling up emotions only increases stress.
A therapist can help identify negative thought patterns and guide you toward healthier ways of thinking.
It may take time to find the right therapist, but comfort and trust are key. Together, you can work toward solutions and emotional growth.
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