What is Everyday Resilience? (& 5 Ways You Can Build It)
You have a stressful meeting today at work, and you’ve been dreading it all week.
You’re ready to rush out the door when you suddenly knock over your mug of coffee, leaving a huge mess for you to clean up before you can leave.
You’re more stressed out than ever before, and now you’re positive you’re going to blow your presentation.
These stressful situations are often unavoidable - but learning how to harness the power of everyday resilience can make them feel a lot more manageable.
Here at KMA Therapy, we’re passionate about helping you learn the best tools and tricks to support your mental health. For over 15 years, we’ve educated our clients and community on the latest mental health terms and how they can apply to your daily life.
After reading this article, you’ll know what everyday resilience is, why it’s important, and five ways you can grow your sense of everyday resilience.
What is Everyday Resilience?
Everyday resilience is your ability to emotionally and mentally cope with daily stressors. It allows you to adapt and adjust quickly to inconvenient or stressful situations.
While resilience is typically related to challenging life events, like losing a loved one or surviving a natural disaster, everyday resilience is important to help you deal with small pressures that pile up.
Boosting your everyday resilience can help you:
- Reduce your stress levels
- Lessen your need for control
- Become a better problem-solver
- Shake off difficult situations more quickly
Why is Everyday Resilience Important?
Everyday resilience can help you feel in control of your daily life so you can focus on the things that matter to you and be better equipped to deal with larger issues when they arise.
It may not be a quick fix for all of the problems you’re facing, but it can give you a solid foundation to find new solutions.
5 Ways to Build Everyday Resilience
Building everyday resilience can seem daunting, but these five tips can help.
1. Focus on your relationships
Cultivating strong relationships is one of the best ways to build everyday resilience.
Messes at work and spats with colleagues often seem a lot more manageable when you have someone to vent to at the end of the day.
It doesn’t matter if these relationships are romantic or platonic - any form of connection is a great way to help you face life’s challenges.
2. Practice gratitude for the little things
Listing out ten small things you’re grateful for every night can be a great way to remind you of the good things in life.
Sure, a really good cup of coffee or a nice walk with a friend may not solve all the problems in the world - but they’re important moments nonetheless.
Gratitude has a ton of benefits for mental health, from lowering feelings of anxiety and depression to helping you get better sleep.
It’s worth it to take inventory of the little moments you’re grateful for.
3. Embrace the burnt toast theory
Burnt toast theory is the idea that a small inconvenience, like burning your toast, can actually have a lot of unexpected positive outcomes.
For example, maybe you spilled a cup of coffee all over your kitchen floor this morning. Cleaning up that mess made you miss your bus - but on the next bus, you run into someone who will soon become one of your best friends. You never would have met them if you hadn’t spilled that cup of coffee.
Even if you don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, the burnt toast theory can help you reframe accidents and annoyances into something positive.
4. Do a time jump
Did something ever happen to you that you were convinced would be the end of the world?
Whether your middle school crush didn’t like you back or you had such an embarrassing moment in gym class you swore you’d never recover, eventually, these events that are massive in the moment get smaller and smaller as time goes on.
If your boss calls you out for no reason or a presentation doesn’t go to plan, take a moment and think about whether this is something that will matter in a year, a month, or even in a week.
It is of course okay to feel frustrated and annoyed when these situations happen, but putting your feelings into perspective can help
5. Change unhelpful thought patterns
Learning to change your default feelings and behaviours can be a long process, but it’s an effective way to build everyday resilience.
If you’re struggling to change your mindset, therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy can be a good option.
Next Steps for Supporting Your Mental Health
After reading this article, you know what everyday resilience is and five ways to build it.
Here at KMA Therapy, we’re here to support you on your mental health journey.
Register online to connect with our team or download our Therapy 101 Guide to learn more.
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