HOW TO BUILD YOUR RESILIENCE

There are so many different acronyms for resilience, like the 3 Rs or 4 Ys of resilience. But one that really resonated with me is the 5 Cs of Resilience: Confidence, Compassion, Community, Commitment, Centering developed by Dr Joel Bennett.

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CONFIDENCE

Building confidence is crucial for having resilience in life, and confidence is all about mindset. 

 

If you repeatedly tell yourself that you are not worthy, that you are inadequate, weak or even repeatedly confirm to yourself that you are insecure, you will forever stay insecure. 

 

Practising a positive internal monologue is the secret to confidence. Start small, with one tiny positive remark about yourself:

 

I am improving my planks

 

As your affirmation builds, along with your practice, your confidence will also build. 

 

It's as consistent as gravity. 

 

And as your confidence grows your resilience grows. 

 

Give it a go, and for more details on inner monologue check out our inner monologue blog.

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COMPASSION

Be nice to yourself. If something doesn't go exactly to plan, you can't throw all of your toys out of the pram and chuck a tanty. 

 

Don't give up on all your hard work and berate yourself for the small fail. It happens. 

 

We are human, It's life. 

 

I will miss workouts. I will miss meditations. Am I going to beat myself up about it? No! I do my best, and sometimes those workouts need to take a backseat to other things going on. 

 

It's ok, it's life, then as soon as I can I'll rebook my workout and get sweating because I know it's what works for me.

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COMMUNITY

Who you have around you is crucial for your overall wellbeing. Surrounding yourself with truly positive people leads to you being stronger mentally. 

 

Good people contribute to filling your mental cup, but negative influences tend to do the opposite. They absorb your energy and they can affect your mental state and confidence. 

 

This all affects your resilience and ability to be tough and strong when life calls. And this is when you need resilience in your back pocket. 

 

Truly positive influences help build you up by reinforcing that positive inner monologue and creating a positive environment for you to grow.

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COMMITMENT

Commit to yourself and show yourself love every day. 

 

Do this through healthy food that fuels your body efficiently; through movement that nourishes your body and mind; through connecting with others (social self love); through practising gratitude (strengthening your positive mindset); and through being kind to yourself when life doesn't go to plan. 

 

Staying committed to your wellbeing and all aspects of it strengthens up your resilience muscle. It builds your confidence. 

 

And it is core to you staying strong both in the good and the tough times.

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CENTERING

Breathwork, meditation, yoga, Pilates: something that takes your energy away from everything going on around you and brings your focus and mind inwards. 

 

Slowing down and giving yourself quiet and peace of mind where you cannot be bothered by the outside world gives you time to essentially process your shit. 

 

If a garbage bin is never emptied, it will simply begin to overload and the contents will start to rot. If you consistently take out the trash you are left with enough bin space to deal with whatever crap is thrown at you.

 

We are that bin (hope you're loving my gross analogy right now)!

 

Meditation and other practices of centering allow you to process what life has already thrown at you, giving you the mental space and capacity to deal with whatever is in your future. 

 

You will deal with the situation without a knee jerk reaction like Ari Gold in Entourage punching a kitten photo on the wall at the end of an unsuccessful therapy session. You will react calmly, with forethought, and be able to respond to what is happening, with less emotion and get into damage control more readily.

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TO SUM UP

Building resilience is something we all need to constantly work on. 

 

It is a muscle. 

 

We need to consistently check in, centre and surround ourselves with positive people. We also need to be compassionate to ourselves and remain committed to our overall wellbeing.