Tips to make yourself more resilient
THERE is a lot of talk about the importance of building resilience – as a solution to stress, the epidemic of our times which is severely affecting the physical and mental health of so many.
Resilience is important for professional sports people, in the workplace and for all of us to handle the ups, downs and snakes and ladders of life. Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties. None of us are exempt from life’s difficulties. We may not suffer all possible challenges in life but we all experience hardships–from illness to bereavement, loss, exclusion, debt, humiliation, problems in relationships, addiction, ‘failure’, loneliness and grief.
We are all affected by the smaller daily micro-challenges, the disappointments when things ‘go wrong’, the mini losses or accidents, the person cancelling last minute, delays, traffic-jams, set-backs, and sickness. There are so many. Resilience comes from the Latin ‘ leaping back’ or ‘act of rebounding’,
If you want to make yourself more resilient, here are my top 12 tips.
1. Analyse your life and plan your time, environment and thinking patterns to minimise the stresses that affect you so you have less to bounce back from. If you want to lose weight and get tempted by chocolate biscuits at midnight, don’t keep them in your house. If facebook distracts you, take it off your phone. See how and where you are losing time and energy and change your mind-set, time and environment to support you.
2. Don’t sweat the small stuff and expect the unexpected. If you are interacting with others, or leaving the house at all, the chances of your day working exactly the way you expect is almost nil. Sometimes things go quicker and easier and sometimes they are more difficult. Life can and will speed you up or down depending on how the wind is blowing that day.
3. Ring-fence time that is uninterrupted to do the important things daily or even weekly. You will be amazed how quickly you get things done.
4. Take care of your wellbeing. Have a routine that gets you energized in body and mind every morning and set intentions for what you want to achieve daily. When you start your day charged and connected to how you are feeling and your purpose, you can more easily handle the challenges that present and you will be more productive.
5. Life can make us bitter or better. Choose better.
6. Focus on what you can control and not on what you can’t. Have a ‘performance mind-set’ focussing on doing an excellent proposal rather than winning the bid.
7. Do the important tasks when you are at your best. If you are trying to make changes or do anything new, start when fresh.
8. Reset your primitive fight, flight and fright physiological responses when triggered by daily minor threats through focussed slow breathing or other means of balancing your body.
9. Reframe and convert your stress / negative thoughts to positive ones.
10. If you have a problem, ask for help. If you have a difficulty related to someone talk to them with a mind-set to solve.
11. Drink more water.
12. Mindfulness and meditation can greatly help strengthen resilience as they help us, let go of things taking up space, find the reset button and shift gears so we can be positive, present and focused.
Many of the factors that stress us could be minimised by better planning, habits and thinking strategies and reorganising our environment. This week, have a look at what stresses you most and plan ways to minimise and boost your resilience, happiness and output.
There are of course positive types of stress. The excitement of getting married, going on a holiday, waiting for the arrival of a new baby, or starting a new job can be stress. Stress is not always a bad thing.
On-going relentless issues that cause stress is not good because it can start to disrupt your sleep, contribute to weight gain, and aggravate skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. It plays havoc with the digestive system causing symptoms that include bloating, wind, diarrhoea, pain, cramps, and can impact negatively on good gut bacteria.
Diet is affected, some people will eat more, and some will eat less. Ultimately long term stress depletes important nutrients like Vitamin B and C, these nutrients are important to help the body deal with the effects of stress.
Supplements that can help you cope with stress include passiflora, rhodiola, valerian, magnesium, and L- Theanine. B vitamins can help and improve energy levels, reducing the impact of stress on the body. And vitamin C to replenish what is lost. Relaxing baths with added Magnesium flakes are a fantastic way to de-stress. Yoga, meditation, talking, and walking can also help.
Dr.Marilyn Glenville Phd, a leading expert in nutrition is coming to Ireland to give some talks about dealing with stress. She will be in Wexford on March 10 at The Talbot Hotel.
Don’t let stress rule your life.