The 7 Traits of Resilient People

Resilience is not innate. While there are biological and social factors that contribute to, or detract from, your ability to be resilient, the ability to handle adversity well is not simply something you’re born with. Most of your resilience factor is determined by your personal growth and development; what you choose to do to prepare yourself.

Unfortunately, resilience is a lot like insurance. We don’t tend to think about it, until we need it. Much like we don’t think about the spare tire on our car until we get a flat (do you even know where to find the spare tire in your car?) we don’t think about our ability to be resilient, until we face a situation that requires us to handle adversity.

Resilience is a lot like insurance. We don’t tend to think about it, until we need it. #resilient #resilience

The solution?

Start preparing now. Your eventual need to be resilient is one of life’s guarantees. I have never met a single person on the planet who never faced a challenge. No matter your age, I’m certain that you don’t have to look back very far in your past to think of the last difficult challenge you had to face. You may be facing one right now.

[bctt tweet=”I have never met a single person on the planet who never faced a challenge. #resilience #resilient” username=”MarkBlackSpeaks”]

So if you know for sure that you will face challenges in your life, and you know that being more resilient is the key to coping with that challenge in a more productive way, then why wouldn’t you proactively build your “resilience factor” now? You can’t buy home insurance after your house burns down, and you can’t work on your resilience when you’re in the middle of the challenge that requires it. The time is now. So let’s get to work.

What skills, abilities and habits do you need to become a more resilient person? I’ve boiled many potentially beneficial factors to the seven I believe are the most critical. To be the most resilient person you can be.

The 7 Traits of Resilient People:

1. Fitness –How fit or prepared are you to face life’s challenges? Are strong, physically, mentally and emotionally? Are you well connected to friends and family for support? Do you have some personal savings in case of a financial challenge? Are you fit?
2. Flexibility — Are you able to adjust to changing circumstances? Can you “go with the flow”? Or are you so rigid and stuck in your ways, that you break rather than bend?
3. Focus — Do you know what really matters to you, and are you able to focus your time and attention on those things? Or are you constantly distracted by the plethora of things that try to steal your time from your priorities?
4. Fruitfulness — Are you productive? Do you get things done? Are you spending your life doing something that will leave a lasting legacy?
5. Fancy — Can you dream a bigger dream for yourself than your current reality? Are you able to see a better future than your current present?
6. Framing — Can you take a current challenge and transform it into an opportunity? Can you see the silver lining in the cloud?
7. Formidability — Are you tough? Do you endure? Do you give up easily, or do you stick it out through thick and thin?

If you want to become a more resilient person, you have to be excellent at these seven things. The more you build these seven abilities, the more effective you will be at handling whatever life throws at you.

Which of these seven traits is your strength? Which one do you most need to work on? Share in the comments below.