The IEP Learning Academy Podcast

The Art of Resilience

Brought to you by Assemble You.
It’s time to work on YOU. So sit back and listen to practical, actionable advice to accelerate your progress.

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We all know who Oprah Winfrey is, but do you know how she got to be where she is today? Winfrey was born to a poor, single teenage mother in rural Mississippi. Growing up, she often had to wear dresses made of potato sacks and was routinely made fun of. She was sexually abused at the age of nine, ran away from home when she was 13 and became pregnant at 14, losing her son when he was born prematurely.
At age 17, things started to turn around for Winfrey. She won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant, was hired by a local black radio station for a part-time news broadcast, and eventually secured a scholarship so she could attend Tennessee State University.
As a young, Black woman making a name for herself in news and television, Winfrey had to fight to be recognized, but she would ultimately win out over adversity and become the global celebrity she is today.
The example set by Oprah Winfrey is so important because it illustrates how significant the art of resilience is. The more resilient we are, the more we’ll be able to achieve. In fact, according to one article that appeared in the Harvard Business Review,
the ability to bounce back from setbacks is often described as the difference between successful and unsuccessful people. Resilience has been shown to positively influence work satisfaction and engagement, as well as overall well-being, and can lower depression levels.

And Author Courtney E. Ackerman, who holds a Master of Arts in Positive Organizational Psychology from Claremont Graduate University, tells us that resilience is important because,
Greater resilience leads to improved learning and academic achievement. Resilience is related to lower absences from work or school due to sickness. It contributes to reduced risk-taking behaviors including excessive drinking, smoking, and use of drugs.
Those with greater resilience tend to be more involved in the community and/or family activities. Higher resilience is related to a lower rate of mortality and increased physical health.

Ackerman goes on to state that “resilience has a powerful impact on our health (and vice versa).” So, the more resilient we are, the healthier we can be, and the healthier we are, the more resilient we can be!
So today, we’re going to focus on some actionable, easy-to-implement techniques that will help you build your resilience. Let’s start by reminding ourselves of exactly what resilience is, so we can master it and be able to lead happy, successful lives. Resilience is defined as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness; the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events.” Whether it’s fighting a wrong in the world, making a name for ourselves, or the everyday stresses of work, family, and the countless other obligations we have, we all face challenges. But we have to be able to overcome these adversities, adjust our course, and recover our spirits so we can press on with our lives and goals, and accomplish what we’ve set out to do.
Identifying how you respond when something goes wrong is the first step in building resiliency. According to the Mayo Clinic,
when you have resilience, you harness inner strength that helps you rebound from a setback or challenge, such as a job loss, an illness, a disaster or a loved one’s death. If you lack resilience, you might dwell on problems, feel victimized, become overwhelmed or turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse.

Think back to the last time you encountered adversity. Which of those two descriptions sounds more like the way you responded? If your response falls under the latter description, be mindful of this the next time something doesn’t go as planned. Recognize your tendency to react in a non-resilient way so you can actively take steps towards resiliency instead.
It also helps to be aware of your attitude towards your situation. As educator, author, and businessman Stephen Covey said, “to change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.” Nobody is perfect and we’re all going to fail at something throughout the course of our lives. It’s our perspective, or how we view that failure, that counts. Learning something along the way is often more valuable than success because you can take what you’ve learned, make adjustments, and find greater success the second time around.
And when it comes to our thoughts, Roger Gabriel, Chief Meditation Officer at Chopra, a global organization that focuses on personal transformation for our collective well-being, states,
The mind is the home of our thoughts, emotions, desires, and expectations. Unlike the body, whose challenges are often clearly visible, the mind has a tendency to hide away its problems.

Gabriel advocates that the “ability to use processes and behaviors to protect ourselves from the stresses of life and maintain a state of balance and equilibrium,” is a key component in any resiliency plan. Since our thoughts create our realities, what we focus on becomes our reality. If your mind is focused on your frustrations, worries, and uncertainties in your life, this is what you’ll see in the world. But if you habitually shift how you see the world around you, by identifying the people, places, or things that keep you feeling centered, grounded, and optimistic, you begin to practice mental resilience.
Another way to become more resilient is to make sure you’re taking care of your body. According to the American Psychological Association,
stress is just as much physical as it is emotional. Promoting positive lifestyle factors like proper nutrition, ample sleep, hydration, and regular exercise can strengthen your body to adapt to stress and reduce the toll of emotions like anxiety or depression.

Eating a balanced diet, getting enough physical activity, practicing mindfulness, and taking some quiet time to meditate, reflect, journal, or just sit in silence are all easy ways to be sure you’re paying as much attention to yourself as you are to the task at hand. Apps like Calm, whose goal is to help improve your health and happiness, can help with this. You can find support with guided meditations that improve sleep quality, reduce stress or anxiety, improve focus, or emphasize self-improvement.
While taking some time to ourselves is important, you don’t want to totally disconnect from the people in your life. According to MindWise Innovations, a non-profit focused on behavioral health solutions, connecting with others can improve your quality of life, boost your mental health and help you live longer. Having people in your life who accept and support you makes it easier to get through difficult times. And when you share what’s going on and how you feel with others, they might share similar experiences from their life, which makes us realize we’re not alone and that it might not be as bad as you thought.

According to Harvard Business Review contributors Rob Cross, Karen Dillon, and Danna Greenberg, “our resilience needs are personal and are shaped by our unique history, personality, and professional [and] personal context,” so it’s important to identify which relational spheres are important to you. Some examples of different relational spheres are those “that remind us of the purpose or meaning in our work” or those “that help us see a path forward.” Ultimately, we want the relationships in our lives to be like “a toolbox that we can turn to in our most difficult times, which we can rely upon to help us navigate day-to-day life challenges.”
There will always be difficulties, disappointments, and struggles along any journey. How we handle the times these obstacles arise can make all the difference and actually help us to become more resilient. The Mayo Clinic concludes that
resilience can help protect you from various mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Resilience can also help offset factors that increase the risk of mental health conditions, such as being bullied or previous trauma. If you have an existing mental health condition, being resilient can improve your coping ability.

By identifying how we react in any given situation, shifting our perspective to identify the value in an experience, making sure we’re taking good care of ourselves, and taking the time to make connections with others, we can build our resiliency and find happiness and success in our everyday lives.