The 7 Pillars of Resilience

What exactly is resilience?

Resilience describes your inner strength. It encompasses various skills, qualities, and resources that can help you overcome difficult situations, stress, and crises without harming your mental health. Resilience helps you navigate even the fiercest storms without breaking. Strengthening your resilience is therefore a crucial element of your mental well-being. The 7 Pillars of Resilience model can be a helpful tool in this process.

Can I learn resilience?

Scientific studies have shown that resilience is not an immutable personality trait simply inherited at birth. While there is a certain genetic predisposition to resilience, it is significantly shaped by how we grow up, how we are raised, and what we experience. Furthermore, it is now clear that the various factors of resilience can be developed and cultivated even in adulthood. Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore the seven pillars of resilience to better navigate future crises, challenges, and stressful times. First pillar of resilience:

Optimism

When we humans are in difficult situations, we often tend to focus on the negative aspects. This can drain our energy from tackling and changing things. The resilience factor of optimism is about believing that every crisis is temporary and can be overcome. It doesn't mean sugarcoating everything or ignoring problems. Optimism is also linked to one's own sense of self-efficacy – that is, the belief that we ourselves can influence things. Optimism gives you the self-motivation to persevere with your goals and develop solutions despite adverse circumstances.

Second pillar of resilience: Acceptance

Acceptance is closely linked to realistic optimism. Acceptance is about embracing a situation as it is. It's about learning to accept what is beyond our control. Some things we cannot change, or not yet, and that's okay. When we accept the things we cannot change, we have more energy to focus on the things we can control and change. This also includes accepting that positive and negative emotions are part of life. One doesn't exist without the other. Practicing acceptance can create peace and serenity . That's why it's a crucial pillar of resilience.

A special form of acceptance is self-acceptance . This involves accepting yourself as you are – with all your perceived flaws and imperfections.

Third pillar of resilience: Solution orientation

In stressful times or during a crisis, our thinking is often focused on the negative. We actually want to "get away from the problem," but instead, we primarily think about the problem and ways to avoid it. We often remain in what's called "problem trance," a state in which our thoughts revolve solely around the crisis. We can hardly imagine or visualize a solution. This is where solution-oriented thinking comes into play as a resilience factor. This means directing our thoughts more "towards the solution." So, how can the problem be solved? Feel free to get creative here. Solution-oriented thinking might seem unfamiliar at first, but it can help you overcome obstacles.

Fourth pillar of resilience: Leaving the victim role

We sometimes tend to see ourselves as "victims of circumstance." For example, we might view an event or a person as the "perpetrator," while experiencing ourselves as "the victim" of the situation. But who can save us? When we see ourselves as victims of circumstance, we rob ourselves of our self-efficacy—the feeling that we can make a difference. To break free from the "victim mentality," it's important to constantly remind yourself of your own skills and abilities. You have already mastered difficult situations in the past, and you possess the skills to do so again in the future.

5th pillar of resilience: Taking responsibility

The pillar of "taking responsibility" is closely linked to the fourth pillar of resilience. This pillar is about not always blaming other people or circumstances for current stress or crises. This doesn't mean you're always to blame for things happening to you. But you can accept that things happened the way they did and then decide how you want to deal with them and move forward. Understanding that you are responsible for your own life is a fundamental realization. No one can take that responsibility away from you.

But that's also the beauty of it – you can't control the storms you encounter, but you do have control over how you deal with the storms that come your way. Do you want to wait for someone to come and rescue you? Or do you want to start taking charge of your own life and assuming responsibility?

6th pillar of resilience: Network orientation

Like a safety net beneath a trapeze, we all need a social safety net to catch us when we fall. This refers to our friendships and family, who support us through challenges, are there for us when we need comfort, and can give us a sense of security. The feeling of belonging and connection is a fundamental human need and therefore also an important factor in resilience.

7th pillar of resilience: Future planning

Part of the future can be planned, the other part can only be encountered. The ability to plan for the future involves learning to set realistic goals that align with your abilities and inner values. At the same time, it's crucial to respond flexibly and adaptably to changing circumstances. This also includes learning from past setbacks to prepare for future challenges.