I hope you’re having a great week! Are you navigating back into your normal routine after the summer holidays? It goes without saying, if you have children and don’t get much help with childcare you might find it a struggle (it was for me anyway...).

When things don’t go your way for whatever reason it can certainly be a test of your mental resilience. 

What is mental resilience?

 I see it as our ability to cope with difficult events and situations that happen in our lives, and how we recover from them. Everyone has a certain level of resilience, and you can take steps to build it - for those times when life punches you in the face for no reason whatsoever. 

Let’s delve into a few techniques that can assist with building it. 

1 Make a list of your strengths: When going through a tough time it's easy to forget how strong you are. Think back on other tough times in your life: did you get through that? The chances are you did, and it’s proof you can do so again. In most cases, tough times don’t last.

2. The Two Month Rule: As previously stated, tough times don’t last. Whatever the problem is, will it still be there in two months? If you’re struggling financially, will you still be in the same position in two months? If you’ve had a breakup, will it still feel as bad in two months? Use this mindset to apply when facing these difficulties – everything is temporary. 

3.Don’t hold grudges: This is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die! If you keep focusing on an incident where someone has angered you or done something wrong, you will remain angry. Not being able to move forward will feed negative thoughts - energy feeds off energy. 

4. Get moving: We say this all the time, but getting to the gym or going for a walk to blow off steam is a lot better than drowning your sorrows. If you exercise, you’re casting a vote to positivity. Binge drinking and all-nighters are a surefire way to remain in a negative headspace.

5. Accepting things to move forward: One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about mental resilience is if you lose your focus, things will start to go the wrong way. This is fine: accept it and come back! Being accepting of ourselves when we make mistakes is the key to shifting away from negative emotions.

Hopefully this can provide you with some useful tips to keep in mind: remember that building resilience is a constant working progress, and you’re doing better than you think.

Click here to test your mental wellbeing, to check in with your own headspace: