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Over 47 million Americans are experiencing mental health conditions, with large increases in many mental health conditions (such as anxiety and depression) since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. If you are struggling with a mental health condition, we recommend practicing and improve on your resilience, which is your ability to bounce back after facing challenge or hardship. Just like consistently lifting weights can lead to increased strength, you can increase your resilience with practice. See the list below to get started!
1. Understand your core values.
Core values are the qualities you wish to demonstrate in your interactions with others and through the way you live your life. When you know your core values, you’re better able to navigate tough times because you know yourself and the values that matter most to you. Your values will change throughout your life. For example, your values may have been very different prior to having children or perhaps the death of a close friend or family member or other major life changes forced you to re-think how you want to live your life.
If you haven’t completed a values assessment in a while or would like to learn more, reach out to a Profile coach! They can help you complete the activity, or you can learn more about values and complete your values assessment by accessing this recorded webinar: Hacking Health.
Key point: When you know what’s most meaningful to you, you’re able to face difficult decisions in a resilient way that feels authentic to you.
2. Get a growth mindset!
Think back to a time when you were just learning a new skill, such as learning a new form of physical activity, like a TikTok dance, or learning a new way to prepare a certain food. You may recall that learning this new skill came with certain challenges or learning curves. Having a growth mindset helps you approach new skills and challenges as a learning opportunity, even if you ‘fail’ the first few times! Try to seek feedback and look for lessons when faced with struggles or challenges.
Key point: Having a growth mindset helps you learn from mistakes and use information to be successful in the future. It allows you to be resilient when faced with challenges because you never see a dead end as the end of the route- they find another route by learning from each experience.
3. Go from “stinkin’ thinkin’” to helpful thoughts
Your mind is a powerful tool that can work to your advantage when you come across difficulties. Think about a frustrating situation. Perhaps you’re not reaching your health goal(s) as quickly as you would like or maybe you’re not meeting your health goal(s) at all. Your automatic thoughts might sound like: “I can’t do this,” “I’m a total failure,” or “I’m not even sure why I signed up for this to begin with.” These thoughts can quickly spiral into negative thinking and lead you to stop making positive changes. Instead, become aware of how you are feeling when things don’t go your way and start to monitor your thoughts.
Think about examples from your life that support your thoughts and examples that go against your thoughts. For instance, are you really a “total failure” if you were able to meal prep a few times this week? Is there evidence to suggest that you’re making progress in other ways besides weight loss?
Key point: people with higher levels of resilience use the power of their mind to support their goals when faced with adversity.
4. Find some good, even in the darkest of times
Gratitude allows you to reflect on the things you’re thankful for. While practicing gratitude consistently can boost mental health, it is especially important when you are faced with struggles and challenges. When you think about a frustrating or stressful situation (perhaps a plateau in your health journey), consider 2-3 things that you appreciate. For example: “I’m grateful for my health coach who has my back no matter what,” or “I’m grateful that, despite being frustrated with my overall progress, I’m still choosing to honor my hunger and fullness cues” or I’m not where I ultimately want to be but I’ve come further than I ever have before.”
Key point: practicing gratitude can energize you during times when you struggle. This could be the energy that helps you bounce back from challenges.
Having a positive mindset and building resiliency can be difficult is achieve on your own. Profile pairs you with a certified health coach to help guide you on your health journey. People who use a health coach are proven to lose 3x more weight* and more easily achieve lasting results. Want to get started with a health coach? Request a free consultation now.
