How To Increase Resilience

Introduction

"...There are two ways to become resilient: one by talking to yourself and the other by retraining your brain..."
Daniel Goleman, 2011

Talk to yourself

"..Talk to yourself. Give yourself a cognitive intervention and counter defeatist thinking with an optimistic attitude. Challenge your downbeat thinking and replace with a positive attitude..."
Daniel Goleman, 2011

Retrain your brain

This involves training of the brain to bounce back from the cumulative toll of daily hassles.

When becoming overwhelmed, the amygdala (radar for danger and trigger of the flight/fight/freeze response) hijacks the prefrontal cortex (cognitive thinking part of the brain). Generally, the amygdala hijacks the left side of our prefrontal cortex. While it is distressed, there is a heightened activity in the right side of prefrontal area. This can have impact on your moods.
"...if we're tilted to the right, more upset; if tilted to the left, quicker recovery from stresses of all kinds..."
Daniel Goleman, 2011

Use mindfulness (an attention-training method teaches the brain to register anything happening in the present moment with all focus and without reacting.)

Instructions
"...1. Find a quiet, private place where you can be undistracted for a few minutes......
    2. Sit comfortably, with your back straight but relaxed
    3. Focus your awareness on your breathing, staying attentative to the sensation of inhalation and exhalation, and start again on the next breath
    4. Do not judge your breathing or try to change it in any way
    5. See anything else that comes to mind as a distraction - thoughts, sounds, whatever - let them go and return your attention to breathing..."
Daniel Goleman, 2011

This requires a daily practice of up to 30 minutes.