What does resilience mean?

When did you last consider how resilient you are? I hazard a guess that it’s not high on your list of must-do things for today, and yet perhaps it needs to be.

So what is resilience? According to one online dictionary, it is “the capacity to recover quickly; to bounce back into shape”. This is not a hugely enlightening description of what resilience means to us as humans, although it does give us a starting point.

For something to bounce back into shape suggests that it’s been knocked out of shape at some point; that it has become less than its best and needs to return to its optimum state.

Optimum state: now that’s an interesting term. What is your optimum state? How do you look, feel and act when you are at your optimum?

Understanding resilience is starting to take some shape now, I think. Thinking of you at your optimum self, would you say that you have the capacity to bounce back from any knocks that come your way? What might you need to do, or be, that would enable you to bounce back more easily?

A lot has been written about resilience, and I have tried to pull together a summary here of the capacities of a resilient person so that we can begin to build our own resilience.

Capacities of a resilient person

• Self-aware; builds strategies to support and replenish themselves.
• Flexible and adaptable in adverse and positive situations.
• Optimistic about the future and the opportunities ahead.
• Seeks help, notices learning from situations and uses positive examples to build their own resources.
• Expects to recover and sees setbacks as temporary.
• Accepts responsibility, takes ownership and understands what is within their control.

Knowing these capacities, how could you begin now to strengthen your bounce?

I thought I would leave you with a richer definition of resilience to allow you to focus more easily on the changes you would like to achieve:

Resilience refers to how humans can adapt to and overcome risk and adversity. Being resilient doesn’t mean you go through life without experiencing difficulties and pain. It involves developing better thinking and self-management skills, as well as increased knowledge, as we go through life.

Resilience is also supported by relationships with those in our lives, as well as cultural and spiritual beliefs and traditions that help people cope with the inevitable bumps in life. Resilience is built out of a variety of behaviours, thought patterns and actions that can be learned and developed through life.

If you are finding it tough to be resilient, a life coach can help you utilise specific tools to support your journey.