HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR RESILIENCE

Have you scored lower than the global average in Resilience? Here are some helpful resources to help develop and improve your resilience.

Resilience is like a muscle that grows the more you use it.

This does not mean you have to put yourself through hardship just to build your resilience, but rather by exploring uncomfortable or challenging situations on purpose, you can gradually increase your resilience.

A way to build your capacity to bounce back from adversity is to prepare for the unknown and unpredictable. By constructing these “contingency plans” you will harness your full cognitive power when it’s needed.

To maintain your psychological toughness, considering training with the help of a professional coach, mentor, or psychologist. The most resilient people know that investing into your mental health before hardship is the best way to adapt successfully to change.

Exercise 1 – Doors Closed Doors Open

Courtesy of PositivePsychology.com

Instructions

Think about a time in your life where someone rejected you or you missed out on something important or when a big plan collapsed.

These would be points in your life where a door closed. Now think about what happened after: what doors opened after? What would have never happened if the first door didn’t close?

Write down these experiences in the spaces below:

The door that closed on me was...

The new door that opened for me was...

Now, reflect upon your experiences and respond to the following questions:

• What led to the door closing? What helped you open the new door?
• How long did it take you to realize that a new door was open?
• Was it easy or hard for you to realize that a new door was open?
• What prevented you from seeing the new open door?
• What can you do next time to recognize the new opportunity sooner?
• What were the effects of the door closing on you? Did it last long?
• Did the experience bring anything positive?
• Which character strengths did you use in this exercise?
• What does a closed door represent to you now?

Exercise 2 - Resilience Story Sharing

(Reflective storytelling exercise)
Instructions:
Ask participants to reflect individually for 2 minutes on a personal or professional situation where they overcame adversity or bounced back from a setback.

Form small groups (3-4 people). Each person takes 2 minutes to share their story, highlighting specifically:
The challenge they faced.

What inner strengths or resources helped them overcome it.
What they learned from the experience that could help them in future situations.

After sharing, spend 2 minutes with the group identifying common themes or insights.

Outcome:
Participants recognize and articulate their personal resilience strengths, gain inspiration from peers' stories, and discover collective insights.

Exercise 3 - Drawing Exercise: "The Resilience Battery"

(Visual, metaphor-based experience)

Instructions:
Provide each participant with a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to quickly draw a simple battery symbol representing their current “resilience level” (from empty to fully charged). (1 min)

Individually, they reflect and jot down two lists (3 min total):

• What drains their resilience battery? (Stressors, specific scenarios, relationships, habits, etc.)
• What charges their resilience battery? (Support systems, practices, activities, mindset shifts, etc.)
• Participants pair up and discuss their findings with each other, highlighting one actionable insight they gained about better managing their resilience battery. (4 min)

Conclude with a 2-minute group reflection asking volunteers to share interesting discoveries.

Outcome:
Participants experience resilience as something dynamic they can actively manage, identifying concrete strategies to increase their resilience.

Exercise 4 -  Applied Improv Exercise: "Yes, And—Adapt and Thrive"

(Interactive, playful resilience-building)

Instructions:
In groups of 3-4, participants start by standing in a circle.

The first person makes a neutral or slightly negative statement reflecting a challenging scenario (e.g., “The project deadline got moved up two weeks!”).

The next person replies using the “Yes, And…” technique to reframe the challenge positively or find an opportunity (e.g., “Yes, and it gives us a great chance to streamline our processes and collaborate even more effectively!”).

Continue around the circle for several rounds, each participant adding to the story by reframing challenges positively. (6 min)

Wrap up with a brief group reflection: How did it feel to intentionally find opportunities rather than dwell on barriers? (4 min)

Outcome:
Participants practice adaptive thinking and positive reframing, directly experiencing resilience as a skill that can be strengthened through playful interaction.

Further Reading

Abundance - Peter Diamandis, also read Abundance Summary

Watch this video by Lucy Hone (TEDx)

Dr Lucy Hone is a resilience expert who thought she found her calling supporting people to recover following the Christchurch earthquake. She had no idea that her personal journey was about to take her to a far darker place.

In this powerful and courageous talk, she shares the three strategies that got her through an unimaginable tragedy⁠—and offers a profound insight on human suffering.

Dr Lucy Hone is a director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience, a research associate at AUT University, a published academic researcher, best-selling author and contributor to Psychology Today, the Sunday Star Times and Next magazine.

Watch this video by Rich Hanson (Talks at Google)

A talk based on Dr. Hanson’s book “Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness”. Learn how to develop key inner strengths – like grit, gratitude, and compassion – to stay calm, confident, and happy no matter what life throws at you.

With his trademark blend of neuroscience, mindfulness, and practical psychology, Dr. Hanson shows how to deal with stress and pursue your dreams with a deep sense of capability and contentment.

His step-by-step approach is grounded in the science of positive neuroplasticity. He shows how to overcome the brain’s negativity bias, release painful thoughts and feelings, and replace them with self-compassion, hope, and inner peace. Learn a science based approach to sustainable high performance in this talk.

Listen to this podcast (Being Well with Dr. Rick Hanson)

Season 2, Episode 1: Introducing Resilience