Can you explain what resilience is? If you find it difficult to explain resilience in your own words, you are not alone. We at Resilient Leadership Academy also find resilience a concept that is rather hard to define. And we suspect different people may have different interpretations as well.

Confusing, yes. A bad thing, not necessarily.

After all, practising resilience does require you to develop your own understanding. And this is exactly what we hope to help you do with this article.

We took some time to check out what people are thinking about resilience in the Google sphere. Thanks to COVID, it is not surprising that resilience is a hot search word on Google. We have collated 6 frequently asked questions that people have been searching online when it comes to resilience to help you start developing your own understanding.

FAQ 1: How do you explain resilience?

According to Kids Helpline, Australia’s only free (even from a mobile), confidential 24/7 online and phone counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25, resilience is defined as the ability to cope when things go wrong.

Kids Helpline also describes resilience as

  • Bouncing back after difficult times
  • Dealing with challenges and still holding your head up
  • Giving things a go or trying your best
  • Being strong on the inside
  • Being able to cope with what life throws at you and shrug it off
  • Standing up for yourself
  • Getting back into shape after you have been bent or stretched.

Check out Kids Helpline to learn more about talking to kids about resilience.

FAQ 2: What is resilience and why is it important?

If you ever wondered why resilience is important, UK-based counsellor and therapist Joshua Miles may have an answer for you.

Resilience is important, because:

  • Resilience helps us develop protective mechanisms against challenging experiences.
  • Resilience helps us maintain balance in our lives particularly during difficult or stressful times.
  • Resilience can also strengthen our mental health.

Joshua also discusses 3 different types of resilience:

  • Inherent resilience
  • Adapted resilience
  • Learnt resilience.

Click here to read more about what they are.

FAQ 3: What are resilience skills?

.A Wales-based education service SkillsYouNeed believes there are 4 ingredients to building resilience and we can develop our resilience skills by better understanding these 4 ingredients:

 

  • Awareness: Be aware of what is going on around you and inside your head
  • Thinking: Be able to interpret the events that are going on in a rational way
  • Reaching out: Know when and how to seek help from others
  • Fitness: Our mental and physical ability to cope with the challenges without becoming ill.

FAQ 4: What are the 7 Cs of resilience?

Dr Ginsburg, child paediatrician and human development expert, discussed about our resilience being made up of 7 interrelated components or 7 Cs. These 7 Cs are:

  • competence
  • confidence
  • connection
  • character
  • contribution
  • coping
  • control.

To read more about the 7 Cs that make up our resilience, visit here.

FAQ 5: What are the examples of a resilient behaviour?

PositivePsychology.com, an online knowledge base built by a community of practitioners, gives 8 examples of a resilient behaviour:

 

  1. Viewing setbacks as impermanent.
  2. Reframing setbacks as opportunities for growth.
  3. Recognizing cognitive distortions as false beliefs.
  4. Managing strong emotions and impulses.
  5. Focusing on events you can control.
  6. Not seeing yourself as a victim.
  7. Committing to all aspects of your life.
  8. Having a positive outlook on the future and developing a growth mindset.

FAQ 6: How can we build resilience?

Healthdirect, an Australian government website that provides free, trusted health information and advice 24/7, suggests a few strategies that we can adopt to build our resilience:

 

  • knowing your strengths and keeping them in mind
  • building your self-esteem — have confidence in your abilities and the positive things in life
  • build healthy relationships
  • knowing when to ask for help
  • managing stress and anxiety levels
  • working on problem-solving skills and coping strategies.