Exploring previous resiliency
The activity below will help you to think about your past experiences with resilience in mind.
Start by thinking about a time in your life that was particularly challenging or demanding. Think about how you handled that situation and how you eventually got through it.
Now spend some time thinking about the answers to the below questions.
- What was your goal?
- What was the outcome?
- What obstacles did you have to overcome?
- What unpleasant feelings and thoughts do you remember having in the situation?
- Who, if anyone, did you receive external help and support from?
- What specic attitudes and skills helped you cope with the situation?
- How would you rate your resilience in that situation?
- Why wasn’t it 0%?
- What strengths and personal qualities helped you?
- If it wasn’t 100%, how could your resilience be improved during similar situations in the future?
- Based on your experience how might you advise someone else to cope with a similar situation in the future?
Going through this exercise and answering these questions will help you to realise the resilience skills you already possess, which can help you in further building on those skills. Use this exercise to remind yourself that you have already practiced resilience many times before and that you are fully capable of handling whatever comes your way.
Take a moment to think about the questions below:
- What did you discover during this exercise?
- Did anything surprise you?