There have been times recently when I felt I needed to be more sure of how resilient I could be when facing some new and difficult situations.
Was I mentally up to the challenge I was about to face? How far could my resolve, courage and mental strength take me or would I mentally crumble?
I think it would have helped being more confident about the extent of my resilience or as Professor Suzanne Phillips, Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology at Long Island University, describes, my ‘code of resilience’.
I see this ‘code of resilience’ as a predetermined evaluation of the strength of my psychological armour, amassed from previous experiences which we unconsciously and invariably undervalue. Formulating this ‘code of resilience’ is part of our process of self-awareness and reflection, which necessitates first understanding and then measuring resilience.
Firstly, below, Professor Phillips defines and then reinforces the importance of recognising your own resilience.
Defining Resilience
Resilience can be understood in a number of ways. The most common definition of resilience is the capacity to adapt in the face of adversity – essentially the ability to bounce back from traumatic and difficult life events.
As such, resilience is neither a single trait nor a static quality. Resilience looks different in different people because it is a function of many different factors including inborn traits like physical strength, intelligence, artistic ability; family of origin, early attachments, learned skills, emotional regulation, social skills, verbal abilities, problem solving, life experiences and more.
The Importance of Recognising Your Resilience
There is common acknowledgement of the value of self-reflection and the capacity to acknowledge negative and painful feelings in the aftermath of adversity – as a step toward coping, support, and processing.
At those times, there is less invitation to personally identify and acknowledge our resiliency traits. While we speak of resilience, it is often as a vague abstraction associated with bigger than life feats of courage and accomplishment.
As a result, we can easily fail to account for the obstacles of childhood we have weathered; the personal strength it takes to just get the kids up and ready every morning; the self-resolve you find to deal with another job search; the self-care you muster to end a toxic relationship; or the terror you handle facing a medical diagnosis.
Central to coping is the belief that we can find a way to cope and in this remembering our comebacks as well as our setbacks is essential to our resilience.
Measuring Resilience
Secondly, measuring resilience is incredibly helpful because it enables us to understand our current position and then assess how we can develop our resilience further. We can do this through the excellent MTQ Plus psychometric test which is contemporary, simple to complete and understand, and scientifically extremely sound. It measures mental toughness, which comprises both resilience and positivity.
For further information on MTQ Plus contact us
For more information on the work of Suzanne Phillips visit her blog at psychcentral.com