Seven Habits of Highly Resilient People

Resilience has been making headlines lately. It's a intriguing aspect of psychological fitness that impacts your physical fitness and health. Our last post highlighted new research showing that while partially innate, resilience can be learned. A recent article* in the Huffington Post identified seven habits of highly resilient people.

1. Resilience is not about blind optimism. Resilient people allow themselves to experience both positive and negative emotions. While feeling sad about one thing, they remind themselves that they're grateful for another.
2. It is about realistic optimism. They combine a positive outlook with critical thinking to create options on how to deal with challenges.
3. They cope with rejection effectively. Since rejection and set-backs are inevitable in life, they adopt a mindset that maintains their self-esteem and confidence.
4. They build strong support systems. Social support can boost resilience to stress.
5. They notice and appreciate small joys and victories, to prevent feeling that "everything is going wrong."
6. They seek opportunities for growth and learning which enhance their self-reliance and broaden their decision-making skills.
7. They're endlessly grateful. Being thankful has a positive effect on mood and physical health.  The right attitude allows you to turn difficult experiences into learning lessons.

*As reported in the article "How to Bounce Back from Failure – Over and Over Again" by Carolyn Gregoire, Huffington Post, 9/2/13, www.huffingtonpost.com