Resilience: getting back in the saddle

In March this year I wrote a week’s worth of Facebook posts on resilience under the acronym PUSH-IN. This is such an important attribute for all of us, but especially so for people fighting the ‘battle of the bulge’. Every person who has been on a diet has at some stage fallen off the diet horse. And everyone who has been successful in losing weight by modifying their lifestyle knows what it takes to get back in the saddle. In this post we are going to take a look at 5 Tips on building resilience

Get Connected is resilience building tip #1. Building relationships whether it be family, friends, or colleagues is key. Central to building relationships is learning the art of receiving help. Most of us will attest to feeling really good when we give: maybe even more so than when we receive. The flip side of giving is being able to receive. If we are going to sustain standing then we need to stand on two legs rather than on one — we must be able to receive as well as give.

Don’t see failure as final is resilience building tip #2. John Maxwell, author and motivation guru, in his book Failing Forward: How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes wrote, “Ninety percent of all those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit.” In truth we learn far more from our failures than from our successes. Not accepting that a failure is final is crucial to getting back in the saddle.

Setting goals is important: achieving them even more so is resilience building tip #3. We all know how successful setting a New Year goal can be! It’s one thing to set goals — that’s the easy part. It’s quite another to put in the ‘hard yards’. It’s Olympic Games time and it’s obvious that, natural talent aside, every competitor at the Games is a winner in their own right — medal or no medal. They have all achieved the goal of competing on the world’s stage. In setting goals, make sure that they are SMART:

· Specific

· Measurable

· Attainable

· Relevant

· Time-bound

Set sail on a voyage of self-discovery is resilience building tip #4. There is a saying that goes something like this: “ a ship is safe in harbour but that is not what ships are for”. It is not possible to build resilience by staying put in the safety of one’s personal comfort zone. Decisive action is needed in building confidence and self-efficacy — both essential if goals are to be achieved.

Take care of yourself is resilience building tip #5. There are no medical interventions that build resilience. There is no magic pill. It’s all down to self-care across all of the domains that go to make up the whole person. Pay attention to personal physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual needs. People with chronic conditions have to live with their conditions 24/7 and so developing self-care capabilities are essential in dealing with situations that depend on resilience.

Resilience is a human attribute that can be taught, learned and developed by anyone. Building resilience is, however, a process and not an event. It takes time and effort. If you are having to deal with obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure or any of the other diseases of the metabolic syndrome, and you feel that you need to develop resilience, then please feel free to email me at peterh@metscare.com. I’m looking forward to being able to help you.