HOW can I Develop Resiliency - Self-Perception

In the last of our series on HOW to develop resiliency, we look at Self-Perception and how to achieve this important life skill.

Whilst the previous aspects of resiliency are important, perhaps the most important aspect is self-perception, and not just regarding strengths and weaknesses. A resilient person has positive views of themselves and their abilities and knows that they can handle and overcome difficulties. Additionally, no matter what the circumstance, resilient individuals never see themselves as victims, as doing so assumes a lack of control or ability to handle the situation. Instead, resilient individuals view themselves as fighters; this acknowledges the circumstances but gives power and control to the individual to move forward. Victims live in the past; fighters look to the future.

It’s hard to be resilient against outside stressors when you yourself are adding to the stress. If you are beating yourself down, you’re already halfway to the ground when something else comes along. If you encourage yourself and build up your self-perception, then you will be standing strong and tall against outside stressors.

Simple skills to help build self-perception include positive self-talk techniques. This means encouraging yourself with positive words and affirmations everyday: simple sentences like “I can do it,” “I am strong,” “I am capable.” Another way to reinforce positive self-talk is to remind yourself of when you did something well. For example, successfully completing practise tests on ReviseOnline and scoring well is a good thing to remind yourself of when in your formal exam or struggling with answering questions. Another technique is positive imagery: imagining yourself in a positive way can help you believe it and move towards that image. ReviseOnline is very helpful in this regard if you can envision yourself in a formal exam when doing the practise tests.

Resiliency is a very complex skill, and there are so many ways to develop it. We have chosen to focus on three specific aspects of resiliency because they’re applicable to a lot of different stages in life, but it’s still important to remember that everyone will develop resiliency in their own way as they go through life, and will forge their own path.

You've got this!