How to Build Resilience in Midlife

Paraphrased from the NY Times article How to Build Resilience in Midlife

• Practice Optimism - thinking positive thoughts and surrounding yourself with positive people really does help
• Rewrite Your Story -Observe what you are saying to yourself and question it. Reframe struggles as a growth opportunity
• Don’t Personalize It - even if you made a mistake, a number of factors most likely contributed to the problem and shift your focus to the next steps you should take.
• Telling yourself that a situation is not personal, pervasive or permanent can be extremely useful
• Remember Your Comebacks - reminding yourself of the challenges you personally have overcome. setbacks are part of the journey and not a career-ending failure
• Support Others - besides having a strong support networks of friends and family to help in coping with a crisis, you can get an even bigger resilience boost by giving support. Cultivate higher levels of gratitude, altruism and a sense of purpose to push you through all sorts of adversity
• Take Stress Breaks - Stress is the stimulus for growth, and recovery is when the growth occurs. That’s how we build the resilience muscle. Taking a walk break, spending five minutes to meditate or having lunch with a good friend are ways to give your mind and body a break from stress.
• Go Out of Your Comfort Zone - put yourself in challenging situations.  Live your life in a way that you get the skills that enable you to handle stress.