A heart-based approach to resilience

A Heart-based Approach to Building Resilience - Ten Tips to Bounce Back from Life's Challenges

​ “Being resilient means that you are able to weather the storm you are going through and remain intact once it is over.” 
Theodora Zourkas & Kate Zourkas authors of Finding Your Inner Resilience.

 
Are you currently facing a challenging situation? Do you want to be better placed to manage challenges and change? Or do you want a holistic approach to improve your mental wellbeing, self-leadership, inner-strength, ability to manage stress and increase your adaptability?

If the answer is yes; then check out the Top 10 Tips below for how you can build resilience and be better placed to bounce back from life’s challenges by using the head and the heart.

Stress is a reality for most of us; we are working harder than ever, and we seem to be in a constant state of change and uncertainty. Individually we all have different coping thresholds and way of handling challenges and stress. This makes building resilience a personal journey because we all ‘bounce back’ differently. Just like being mindful or finding happiness; resilience is an inside job.

Like most people, we also have had our own challenges. It was on reflection of these challenges that we were able to step back and truly understand the power of resilience and the impact it has had on our own ability to thrive when the going gets tough.

We all face challenges everyday, so here are our Top 10 Tips to help you build resilience and kick challenges to the curb:  

1.     Take Accountability 
Once you take accountability, you can start to take control. It starts with you. “Never underestimate the power of taking personal accountability. As you face challenges and change in your own life, take ownership of your situation, your choices and your actions and see how fast you can find your own inner resilience.”  

2.     Prepare yourself
A lot of challenges can really push you back or knock you down. Try to prepare yourself as best you can by doing your research, getting the resources you need and surrounding yourself with the people you need to help you. “Like climbing a mountain we needed our fitness, our team, equipment and a destination point.”
 
3.     Know your destination
You really need to know what you want to achieve. This is important as you will have days when you may feel like you are taking one step forward and two steps back. Having an end goal will help you move towards your destination and remain focused.  “Have an end goal in mind”.

4.     Gather your support network
Build your team and support network early on so that they can be there to encourage and support you throughout your challenge. They will become critical to your success especially on days when you may feel like giving up.  “Teamwork divides the task and multiples success”. 

5.     Break down your situation
Sometimes your challenges can seem like a huge mountain in front of you. This can be overwhelming, therefore a helpful strategy, is to break down your situation into more manageable portions. “Just focus on the next step that you need to achieve and break it down into tasks.”

6.     Keep moving forward
Keep going, it’s a simple as that. “There will be times when you will feel like you have stalled going up the mountain or your pace might be going a lot slower than what you would like. The important thing to remember is that you need to keep moving regardless of pace as every step forward is a win.”

7.     It’s ok to express emotion
Note to self: I am a human being; it is ok to be emotional. “Losing your cool can also be quite therapeutic. It is like your body is releasing all that stored up negative or harsh energy, once it’s over - move onwards and upwards.”

8.     Use Humour
Laughing heals everything. “Do not underestimate the power of humour through adversity. It will help keep everything in perspective.”

9.     Be positive
Being positive and grateful for what you have will always give you more things to be positive and grateful about.  “Remember your thoughts can create how you view your world which in turn creates how you experience your world. Wouldn’t you want this experience to be positive?”

10.   Let go and move on 
​Keep things in perspective. At the end of the day sh*t happens, some of it we cause ourselves and other times we are faced with something unexpected. Remember, be thankful for the learning, take time to heal yourself and move on. Don’t keep carrying the sh*t around – it’s just weighing you down. “Make peace with your past”.   

At the end of the day stay true to who you are - Standing in your truth  can be really difficult however, it will always come back to reward you. Remember to conquer your challenges use both your head and your heart. 

These 10 tips are based on the book ‘Finding Your Inner Resilience’ by Theodora Zourkas and Kate Zourkas. A practical and heart-based guide to helping you survive, grow, and glow from life’s challenges. 

Theodora and Kate are the directors of Zourkas Group, a company they created to inspire, educate and empower people to live and work from the heart. They achieve this by delivering impactful and meaningful personal development solutions to people through publications, workshops, consulting and coaching. For more information follow www.zourkasgroup.com.au or Zourkas Group on Facebook and Instagram.