10 tips on Building Resiliency

by Wren Hudgins, PhD, Supervisor, Disaster Mental Health, American Red Cross

1. Make connections

• Traditional ways and new electronic ways
• Planned and spontaneous
• Biggest return on your resiliency investment

2. Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable

• Focus on what you can control
• Become aware of straying into territory you can’t control; manually re-focus
• You can’t control disasters; only reactions to them

3. Accept that change is normal

• choose not to focus on a past reality (how things were)
• sameness = comfort because predictable
• mastering change has potential to make you stronger

4. Move toward your goals

• set small achievable goals in areas like self-care, reaching out, physical chores, exercise goals, etc. Clean a closet for example
• break larger goals into doable objectives – cleaning the house starts with a closet

5. take decisive action

• avoid passivity, make a plan for a day, an hour
• stick with what you can control
• check off accomplished goals so there is a record of accomplishment

6. Look for opportunities for self-discovery

• review coping strategies that have worked for you in the past
• consider trying out some new ones
• maintain list of strategies that work for you

7. Nurture a positive view of self

• recall bouncing back from prior hardship – divorce, being fired, health scare, etc.
• see that historically you are resilient
• do others see you as resilient? Listen to them

8. Keep things in perspective

• current situation is small in the span of life
• historically you have bounced back
• historically the world has bounced back

9. CULTIVATE HOPE

• recognize when thinking pessimistically, “force quit” and shift
• plan a future trip or vacation, plant seeds, share hopeful stories, practice gratitude

10. PRACTICE SELF CARE

• limit news exposure (quantity and quality), create C-19 free zones
• be here and now; practice mindfulness; meditate; tune in to your senses
• follow health guidelines, eat, sleep, exercise, connect, plan calming activities