7 Tips to Help Activate Your Resilience
by Cathy Hartenstein
2020 has been quite a year, testing our strength, courage, and resilience. When we are faced with a barrage of changing norms, new ways of doing things, and never-ending challenges it takes all we have to rise to the occasion and find our way through the constantly shifting world we find ourselves in.
1. Believe in Yourself
When we feel overwhelmed it is easy to lose faith, both in ourselves and in others. When this happens, it is good to remember all that you have already accomplished. Remind yourself of your strengths and that you have what you need inside to get you through.Take time for self-care when you need it, and remember you don’t have to be perfect – you just have to do what you can. You always have the ability to draw on your humor, adaptability, intelligence, courage, and resourcefulness. You can do it!
2. Find Your Tribe
You don’t have to do this alone. So many of us are struggling. Reaching out and working with others always benefits our ability to overcome the obstacles we face. We all need support. Building positive relationships and connecting with others helps us find our way through, even the most complicated and challenging of situations. When we face challenges together, we find more strength to tackle what stands in our way.
3. Share Your Burden
Reach out and share what you are going through with others. By doing this it helps you process all the difficult feelings that come with facing stress and overwhelm. It is important not to always put on a brave face, but to connect and get the emotional support you need.By sharing our experience with others, it helps to release difficult emotional experiences, feel good, and gives us more energy so we can focus on what’s most important.
4. Give Back
Sometimes when we help others in need, it shifts our focus from our own struggles and immediately makes us feel useful and enhances our ability to feel powerful and in control when everything seems chaotic. By empowering others, it helps alleviate our own feelings of helplessness. It also feels good to help others and brings needed positive energy into our daily lives.
5. Focus on the Positive
The best way not to get bogged down with the overwhelming difficult feelings and thoughts, is to shift your focus onto what you are grateful for. This automatically brings positive thoughts and energy into your experiences and reminds you of all the good in your life.It is important to surround yourself with uplifting, amusing, feel good energy, activities, and entertainment. This feeds your mind with positive messages and shifts your focus from your struggles.
6. Now is Not Forever
So often when we are faced with insurmountable tasks and difficulties, we think we will never survive. One of the best strategies to help us get through hard times is to remember now is not forever. This is just one moment in time, things constantly change, and there will be much easier times ahead where you can look back on this moment with pride about how you made it through.
7. Find the Lesson
When we go through tough times it is important to seek meaning and try and understand what you have gained from this experience. Every challenge has a gift.
- What gift did these challenges have for you?
- What did you learn from going through this experience?
- What have you gained?
By focusing on the lesson, difficulties become opportunities. Personal growth and learning experiences can be a reward for making it through the challenges you face.
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About the Author
Cathy Hartenstein is a Life Coach, EFT/Matrix Re- imprinting, and NLP Practitioner who is dedicated to helping people create more bliss in their lives and realize their highest potential. By constantly investigating what drives us, why we do the things we do, and searching for the beauty that she sees in humanity, she empowers people to release old trauma and live their best life. She has a strong background leading groups to realize their creative vision, having been actively involved in arts and education for over 3 decades as an international theatre artist, theatre professor at many prestigious universities, and workshop facilitator. In her work she strives to help her clients reconnect to themselves and overcome their personal obstacles to realize their greatest potential. Find Cathy at Create More Bliss.
