September 12, 2011

Building Resilience in Youth

Resilience. We hear this word a lot these days! What does it mean? The Oxford dictionary definition is “Recoiling, springing back, resuming original form after stretching or bending.”

What does it mean in real terms?
  • The ability to bounce back from a difficult situation and in some cases take a completely new perspective on that and other difficult situations.
  • Manage life’s challenges, changing and pressure effectively.
  • Cope and adapt to adversity.

You Cannot Change What Has Happened You Can Control How You Think About It

When some thing ( a plan, a project, a relationship, a situation) does not go the way you want it to go, what is the first question most people ask? WHY ME? This is the wrong question! What happens when you ask the wrong question? Yes! You get the wrong answer and a lot of negative feedback.

What then would be the right question? WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM WHAT JUST HAPPENED? And you get a completely different interpretation back – and a positive lesson can be learnt.

Resilience is like a muscle – when you develop the right exercises you can build resilience. Negative thoughts are the biggest threats for building resilience. Some people have resilience muscles built in, others need to develop them.
Some people allow fear to stop them from seeing the opportunities in situations.
Fear in most cases is:False Evidence Appearing Real
Resilience is associated with the following factors:

- HAPPINESS
What makes you happy? Do more of it!
- SELF ESTEEM
You are a worthwhile person! Love yourself!
- ENERGY
Are you sleeping enough, exercising enough, eating the right food?
- OPTIMISM
Do you look for the positives, not the negatives – the reasons why you can, not the reasons why you cannot.
- DIRECTION
Do you have your goals for the future written down? Do it now!


Understanding Emotions

We highly recommend reading:
Anger Management & Violence Behaviour
Peer Pressure and Risk Taking
How to Handle Difficult People
Ten Keys for Building a Resilient Mindset
Building Resilience - Find Your Islands of Competence
This is one of our greatest challenges. We sometimes misinterpreted our own feelings.

The only person we have the power to change is us. Other people will only change if they want to.

We sometimes misinterpreted other people feelings. All of the factors we have mentioned, you have control over when you understand yourself and your emotions.

The most important relationship you will ever have – is with you.
Reading books, attending courses, mixing with positive people will help you understand your emotions and how they effect you and other people.


There have been many good books written on developing Resilience in young people.
Two of that I recommend:
Ken B Marslew, CEO of Enough is Enough



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