Resilience refers to a person’s inner resilience. Resilient people can cope well with challenges and not only master crises, but often even emerge from them stronger. The term originally comes from materials science. It indicates how quickly a material returns to its original state after being deformed.
The characteristics of resilient individuals are illustrated in the 7 pillars of resilience. Being resilient is partly a matter of one’s genes, but it is also largely a matter of how someone develops these seven resilience factors for oneself over the course of their life. These seven factors can be learned. Which means: you can work on and improve your own resilience. It can be a lengthy process, but it pays off. Below, you will get a better overview of the 7 pillars of resilience according to Micheline Rampe:
The 7 resilience factors
1. Optimism
Realistic optimism is an important characteristic of resilient people. They are aware that almost any situation can change for the better without losing sight of reality.
This optimistic mindset can help you to deal with challenges and not give up in case of setbacks. One option to train your focus on the positive is to practice gratitude. This can happen, for example, by keeping a gratitude diary in which you regularly write down all the things for which you are grateful.
2. Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is the conviction that one can achieve something with one’s own abilities and characteristics. It is therefore also assumed that difficult situations can be overcome through one’s own efforts.
To strengthen this awareness, you can record experiences of success, appreciative feedback or personal milestones and achievements to remind yourself of them at any time. Setting personal and professional goals also promotes your self-efficacy.
If you want to improve your self-efficacy, we highly recommend the learning program “Strengthening self-efficacy” with Amanda Graham on our troodi grow learning platform. You can find the trailer here.
3. Future orientation
The past cannot be changed. Only the present and future offer you a certain amount of organizational freedom. Thus, your own focus should be directed primarily to the future, which you can (co-)create yourself. It can be helpful to visualize goals and visions. Good preparation and a clear focus on your own wishes and ideas for the future will help you to turn these goals into reality.
4. 4. Acceptance
Resilient people can accept situations that they cannot change. They are aware that there is no point in focusing on the negative aspects. Acceptance has a lot to do with being able to let go of one’s own expectations and entrenched ideas. This relieves stress and makes you more content with your own decisions.
If you cannot accept a past situation, it helps to talk about it, so that certain emotions can be processed first. If the situation is in the present, the focus should be on what you can change to move from passivity to activity.
5. Taking responsibility
The point here is not to slip into the role of the victim, but to take responsibility for one’s own situation. The situation should be dealt with constructively.
First of all, this means admitting your own mistakes. But taking responsibility also means standing by your decisions and being able to defend them even in the face of defeat.
6. 6. Solution orientation
As the opposite of problem orientation, solution orientation is about focusing on the solution instead of the problem. With a solution-oriented attitude, one’s focus is never lost and goals can be better achieved.
So a key point is to formulate goals and solutions that are SMART. That is, they must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. You can set your own goals or work out solutions to a problem together with your team.
7. Network orientation
Active contact with one’s own network is a meaningful thing in the lives of resilient people. They consciously turn to others for support. In addition, a strong network fulfills the human need for belonging and contact. As a first step, you can first become aware of your network.
What is your relationship to which person? Who could be helpful to you? A first overview helps you to contact the right person at the right moment.
Do you still need help with successful networking? Then take a look at our learning program “Successful networking” with Constantin Jahn! You can find a trailer of the learning program here.
Strengthening your resilience
Now we know the seven resilience factors. But some points still need to be considered for practical application.
On the one hand, it is important to realize that the resilience factors can vary in strength in different areas of life. For example, if someone is very solution-focused professionally, this does not mean that this person acts the same way in personal relationships. So the factors are much more flexible and agile than one might think at first.
You should also let go of the idea that you can only be resilient when all 7 pillars are fully developed. The development of the individual resilience factors is a long and iterative process that requires constant adaptation to the respective life situation.
The 7 Pillars of Resilience model gives a clear overview of the factors that influence resilience. You can become more and more resilient yourself, e.g. by setting your own goals, focusing on the present and the future, and dealing with different situations in an active and constructive way.
If you continuously work on the individual factors, your own resilience can be strengthened and challenging situations can be handled much better. You can deal with stress much more easily and make better use of your workday, as well as enjoy your private life more through conscious living. Even extremely difficult life crises can not only be mastered with sufficient resilience, but can also enrich your life as an important experience.
You want to build your resilience? At troodi, we offer a learning program to help you do just that. Our resilience expert Rosie Chirongoma will guide you through the individual chapters. Here’s what you can take away from the learning program:
- Developing and strengthening resilience
- Overview of the seven pillars of resilience
- Fostering optimism and solution-oriented thinking
- Applying resilience-building strategies and methods
- Strengthening self-efficacy and resilience
You can also create a free trial account or contact us by e-mail or phone if you have further questions.
