On Building Resilience

Life is difficult and we all get kicked in the face occasionally. We get injured, we lose loved ones, we suffer illnesses, we overindulge etc.

It's how we bounce back that matters.

Oxford defines Resilience like this:

The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

I like this simple, clear definition.

Resilience is an underrated superpower and it is something we can develop. 

The effort we bring here can make the difference between a setback staying localized and temporary or spreading and lengthening in duration.

We can build resilience by developing a team of attributes.

The effects of this development are cumulative and interdependent. 

They are cumulative in that the more of these attributes we develop the more resilient we become.

They are interdependent in that the more of these attributes we develop the more we are able to develop others.

So effort here results in a virtuous cycle.

Resilience Attributes

The more of the following list of attributes we add to our lifestyle the more we improve our capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. They can also be preventative which is nice.

Nutrition - Nutrition is foundational. When we eat clean, we give the only body we ever get the nutrients it needs to run efficiently, grow, ward off illness, and recuperate.

Rest and Sleep - When we rest and prioritize sleep, we give our bodies the chance to recover from daily stress and minor injuries.

I’ll be writing more about sleep hygiene in February. 

Cardio - Regular cardiovascular exercise increases lung capacity which correlates with lifespan. Cardio also improves our immune system, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer etc.

Strength Training - Resistance training helps build lean muscle mass and strengthen bones. Both contribute mightily to resilience especially as we age. After the age of 40, muscle loss and weakening bones increase the risk of injury and can decrease lifespan.

Walking - Walking is a core movement and when we do it regularly it decreases our risk of injury and boosts our immune system among other health benefits.

Waist to Height Ratio - We want to keep our waist size to about half of our height (0.5 waist to height ratio). As waist size increases relative to height, lifespan tends to shorten.

I use this ratio as a proxy for metabolic health, which is a fancy way of saying that our body is running efficiently like a car that is well tuned. 

I wrote about getting and staying lean last week.

Discomfort Tolerance - A lot of us live in a comfortable world. We have supercomputers in our pockets, sit at our jobs, and have car seats with built-in heating so our buns don’t get too cold in the winter.

Making ourselves uncomfortable as a habit whether it be through rigorous exercise, taking cold showers, or having difficult conversations etc preconditions us for the life setbacks which inevitably occur.

I’ll be writing more about this sometime this year for sure.

Support System - When we have people around us who empathize and provide us with emotional and practical support, it buffers the harsher aspects of the world and increases resilience.

When we are a part of a community, it provides support and guidance. And when we give back to that community, it can also improve resilience.

Mindfulness - Taking time to filter out the noise of the world and allow ourselves to spend time in the present with our thoughts can provide an antidote to stress, self-clarity and more.

(Edit) Sense of Humor - I’m adding this one on Mike Ford’s Comment below. While I view having a sense of humor in the general category of Mindfulness, it is so distinct and can be so powerful that I gave it its own sub-header.

Maintaining a sense of humor and perspective while we are in can be so powerful in terms of coping with adversity.

Mindset - When we fully embrace a healthy lifestyle as a part of who we are, we increase the probability that we will develop resilient attributes described in this section.

I saved this one for the end because it encompasses all the others. It is the difference between thinking about a healthy habit as a chore vs a part of who we are.

Life is a marathon not a sprint and even if we add only one or two of these attributes per year, over the course of three or five years, we will develop resilience substantially.