The 4 Traits of Resilient People

Transcript

[Presenter] How well do you bounce back from setbacks and stressful situations? Do you ever feel like you want to give in when faced with one difficult challenge too many? Or maybe you struggle to adapt to change?

If so, you could benefit from improving your resilience.

Resilience is your "bouncebackability." Whether you are facing a personal setback or a global crisis, being resilient will help you to thrive even in the most difficult situations.

Research by Dr Cary Cooper, Jill Flint-Taylor, and Michael Pearn suggests that there are four traits that resilient people tend to demonstrate. These are confidence, social support, adaptability, and purposefulness.

Let's see how you can adopt each of these traits to build your resilience levels and overcome adversity.

Confidence

First, boost your confidence by adopting a positive outlook. A glass half empty mindset can prevent you from exploring problems creatively, and a negative mood can ripple out and affect your team.

Instead, have confidence that you will overcome any challenge that comes your way. Believe in yourself and in your teammates.

Social support

Social support means building good work relationships and asking for help when you need it. We all need a bit of extra support from time to time and it's healthy to admit that. Talking through a problem can help you to bounce ideas around and find the best solution.

So build a network of trusted contacts that you can go to if you need advice. This could be friends, coworkers, or a coach.

Adaptability

Adaptability is fundamental to being a resilient person. It means being flexible, open to new ideas, and having the ability to learn from mistakes.

To become more adaptable, identify any self-sabotaging thoughts you might be experiencing. Things like, "I can't do this," or, "I'm terrible at this." Then turn them around. For example, if you have an idea, but find yourself thinking, "No, that won't work." Stop! And consider all the ways it could work.

By adopting a growth mindset and reframing your thinking in this way, you can stay adaptable and approach challenges in a positive way.

Purposefulness

The final characteristic of resilience is purposefulness. This is tied closely to passion. If you enjoy your work, you'll likely feel motivated and energized by it, even when adversity strikes.

Think about what drives you at work. Is it money, kudos, awards, or just having the freedom to be creative? Then set goals that match these personal values to boost your sense of purpose.

Let's recap on what we've learned today.

Resilience is a great trait to have in any workplace. When you're resilient, you find it easier to work through difficult challenges and setbacks.

There are four key traits resilient people demonstrate: confidence, social support, adaptability, and purposefulness. To develop these, adopt a positive mindset, build good work relationships, stay flexible, and work with purpose and passion.

When you embody these four traits, you'll become a strong, resilient person who can bounce back from any challenge.