Resilience refers to a person's ability to function well in the face of high demand, unwanted change, challenge, or adversity. The more resilient you are, the better able you'll be to deal with pressure. And, if you do finally succumb to the effects of stress, it is your level of resilience which determines how quickly you recover and return to your habitual level of functioning.

Resilience gives the ability to ‘bounce back’ from difficult experiences. To ‘get back on the horse’ after a setback, to wake in the morning with enthusiasm for the day, whatever else is going on in your life.

Resourceful and proactive

This doesn’t mean that resilient people don’t have distress or unhappiness in their lives. But it means that they automatically respond in a more resourceful way, proactively, which gives a sense of control and purpose.

Resilience is similar to hardiness in plants. Just as they vary naturally in their ability to flourish in a tough climate or adverse weather conditions, so people differ in how they respond to the situation or circumstances in which they find themselves.

But, whereas plants are stuck with the resilience inherent in their species, people can actually do something about improving their ability to cope and flourish. Resilience is built on a set of acquired skills which can be learned and developed.

This short course will give you some pointers to help you do that. I have provided practical exercises for you to download. Use them to develop the skills of resilience in yourself.

In this lesson

This lesson explains what resilience is, why we can all benefit, and how you can train yourself to be more resilient.