Resilience: what it is
If I had to describe “ resilience ” in a poetic way, I would say that it is the human capacity to face the unknown , to always get up again , to continue hoping in the darkest days, to be able to endure adversity . As a man of science, however, I would define it as a motivational dimension. That is, as the ability of motivation to remain whole in the face of stressful stimuli, negative events, failures and difficulties. Let’s find out more about the concept of resilience against stressand what are the practical indications and good advice to train our ability to cope with events that can be a source of stress and anxiety.
I started studying the concept of psychological resilience about fifteen years ago, when it was practically unknown, except for the insiders. I started studying it in the population that represents my professional target (the high-level athletes and the authors of extraordinary performances) to analyze and understand the psychological mechanisms that act behind their performance.
In fact, if we think about it, the world of sport takes stress to the extreme and rewards those who know how to manage it better. Consequently, every athlete should be characterized by being – first and foremost – someone very muchskilled in facing difficulties . Someone willing to face one problem after another, to deal with all kinds of discomfort, to withstand very considerable stress. Someone – in short – very resilient. It doesn’t matter which discipline it belongs to. Whether he is a runner, a swimmer, a cyclist. First, an athlete should be someone structured to deal with difficulties.
However, considering resilience only as a “sportsman” thing is an understatement. Sport itself, after all, is nothing more than a metaphor for real life. Resilience _and a transversal human characteristic, something that belongs to all of us. Sometimes we can find more resilience in an orphanage or cancer ward than in an entire Olympic team. The current period, with all the stress produced by insecurity, fear, bereavement requires a lot of resilience. And yet, resilience is what keeps us on our feet: the antidote to discouragement , emotional breakdown, panic or more simply to demotivation and passivity.
Resilience can be trained
A very interesting feature of resilience is that it is not an innate ability. The socio-cultural background, experiences and lifestyle determine this to a greater extent than any gene. This means that resilience is a trainable trait. What can we do, then, to train
It is not just about doing exercises, but about implementing a series of changes in our lifestyle and in our mind-set .
The latter term means our mentality, the way we see the world and read events. In fact, our daily behaviors are determined by the vision of the world that we carry inside. For example, a person with a “fatalistic” mind-set and led to think that their health is not determined by her behavior. Rather that it depends on “fate” or “chance”. Consequently, in a period of emergency like this, such a person will be less active in caring for their health, in taking care of nutrition, in trying to actively reduce stress. The consequence is that such a person will be more exposed to the disease than those who are instead characterized by a proactive mind-set and believe that their well-being is largely the result of their behavior.
Exercises and practical indications
Having clarified the fact that resilience is not a question of individual exercises, but consists in a change of mentality and lifestyle , I would like to leave you some practical indications.
Removing Self-Produced Stress by Eliminating Victimism
Victimization remains a great temptation for human beings and much of the stress we experience is procured for free on our own. Faced with unfavorable events, we can be classified according to the prevalent use of one or the other of two fundamental attitudes. Roll up your sleeves and take actionto change the things we can change, by accepting the things we cannot change. Or indulge in self-pity and victimhood. The latter option does not change our situation and only produces a chronic waste of energy . It is useless to complain about how beautiful the past was. The world has changed and will never go back. Whether we like it or not. Complaining is a waste of energy that we cannot afford. Better to accept what we cannot change and focus on everything we can do to improve our situation.
Resilience feeds on self-discipline.
You have to create daily routinesthat structure the day. Without a routine, the risk is procrastinating, getting depressed, shifting attention from action to complaint. Routines are part of what are called commitment structures , which are devices that allow you to focus effort rather than waste energy. Think of smart working : working alone requires a much greater resilience because commitment within an organization is shaped by a series of constraints (the presence, of the boss, colleagues, visible deadlines). Working from home requires much more willpower and self-discipline : setting routines and short-term goals can therefore be of great help.
Exercise
Alsoexercising in a more difficult situation than before is something that combines three benefits for resilience: it takes self-discipline and willpower , reduces stress and forces you to organize and set goals. A resilient mindset allows you to see lockdown in a paradoxical way, as an extreme of training conditions. In fact, training at home is like wearing a heavy backpack to go for a run: the playing conditions become more difficult to train more will and concentration.
What are you waiting for
? Start working on your resilient mindset to better cope with adversity. An additional help can be natural supplements based on B vitamins and magnesium, such as ESI’s NoDep 700 which regulates the well-being of the mind and promotes relaxation .
