What Resilient People Know and Do to Develop Their Grit

Patricia Morgan Personal Resilience Al Siebert, everyday resilience, research 0

resilience dog and man — Of course, both of us are resilient!

In some ways, all of us are resilient people. Yet, there are some people who prove obvious and high resiliency. You know! Those people who when you hear their story you ask, “How did they do it?” Examples of famous and highly resilient people include Nelson Mandela, The 14th Dala Lama, and Malala Yousafzai. Of course, there are thousands upon thousands of everyday heroes who model vibrant living regardless their obstacles.

Researchers such as Dr. Al Siebert, Positive Psychology founder, Martin Seligman and others have developed descriptors of how people with high resilience think and behave. We all can learn from them.

10 Signs of Highly Resilient People

#1: They attend to their bodies. Your body is stronger when you eat wholesome food, get adequate rest, drink moderation, and do not smoke. Your body can then better manage the stress placed upon it.

#2: They identify and deal with their stress. Denying stress can increase it. When you name what is distressful and deal with it or accept it, it is minimized or collapsed.

#3: They take responsibility for their thoughts and feelings. Self-critical talk can ruin your day and perhaps your life. By changing your thoughts you can you can change your feelings, perspective, and attitude. . . your life!

#4: They know and use their strengths. Once you have identified your gifts or personal strengths, you can better make contributions at work, home and community. Many people find that knowing their strengths and using them gives them a sense of life purpose.

#5: They accept life’s contradictions and ambiguities. When you are adaptive to life’s incongruities you do not waste time nor energy feeling frustrated. Here is a contradiction from the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.”

#6: They develop effective communication skills. When you can better communicate with others, you have the ability to make yourself better understood. You can also better establish clear boundaries and have mutually supportive relationships.

#7: They surround themselves with support. You are not alone on this planet. When you practice acts of kindness, let go of resentment, and forgive relationships improve. The same is true when you listen with empathy, lend a helping hand, ask for help, and give and receive acknowledgment. We flourish in communities that provide emotional and protective cocoons.

#8: They create meaning from the hard times. Meaning comes when we accept what we cannot change and change what disturbs us and we can change. Doing so also helps heal past hurts, setbacks, and disappointments. In essence, you become a resilient role model who walks with experience, wisdom, and gratitude.

#9: They accept responsibility for the events in their life When we turn 18 years of age, we are considered adults with full responsibilities and freedoms. We can decide for ourselves to drink or not, swear or not, blame ourselves or not, and blame others or not. When you decide that your life is primarily your creating, flourishing becomes a distinct possibility.

#10: They take themselves lightly. When you develop an optimistic perspective, you will feel lighter, be healthier, take more risks, and better enjoy yourself. Add some gratitude, smiles, and laughter to instill a sense of joy.

You may consider yourself a resilient person or not. Either way we can build on our resiliency capacities to consider ourselves among those we name resilient people.

Consider discovering how you rank as a resilient person by taking the quick Score Your Resilience quiz.