Building Resilience

Your vision is your sense of purpose in life that leads you to what you would like to achieve. Having a specific and clear vision outlined by goals can help you have clarity and decisiveness when you are facing challenges or tough decisions. Demonstrating congruence or harmony with your vision means all of your actions and decisions are working together towards your sense of purpose.

Questions to consider/guidelines:

• I am gaining confidence in my ability to align my current financial decisions with my long-term goals.
• I align my present choices with my long-term goals.
• I look for trusted resources to help inform and guide planning how I will achieve academic, personal, and professional aspirations.
• I seek opportunities to connect with people who can provide support or mentorship.
• I am comfortable with the fact that things fluctuate throughout life and I have a sense of control of my direction in life.

Having composure means regulating your emotions during times of conflict or added stress. Building composure requires one to be reflective before being reactive to a situation so that one can look for hidden opportunities for solutions. People often possess a bias to interpret information negatively, but through remaining calm and in control of your emotions, one can more easily reflect on what personal beliefs or expectations produced those negative emotions towards the information in the first place.

Questions to consider/guidelines:

• I navigate difficult conversations or communications professionally and calmly.
• I am aware of my bias and consider how my personal experiences and opinions may be different from that of others.
• I allow myself time to think before speaking and making important decisions.
• I make decisions that are in line with my personal values and beliefs and am open-minded to hearing the opinions of others.
• I regulate my emotions and do not allow emotions to overwhelm me.
• I remain calm in challenging situations.
• I accept that most things in life are out of my control, and that remaining calm will help me navigate challenging situations with increased ease.

Reasoning stems from your inner creativity and ability to problem solve. Being resourceful of information and tools available to you can lead to your ability to solve problems more effectively. Reasoning also means you maintain a sense of adaptability not just during times of crisis, but to think ahead of how to take action and minimize the impact of different scenarios, and see new opportunities arise through change.

Questions to consider/guidelines:

• I can identify challenges/problems that I face and evaluate various solutions.
• I reflect on previous decision-making to help inform future problem-solving.
• I have tools to research and explore my options and future planning.
• When I don’t know how to solve a problem I am faced with, I can identify resources to help me.
• I recognize ongoing stressors, and I know how to identify strategies to maintain stability.
• I make choices based on the premise that they will help me achieve my goals.
• When I have multiple things to accomplish, I am able to prioritize and make responsible decisions.

A healthy state of being provides a strong foundation for your resilience by incorporating a balance within your life. Well-balanced health practices include moving your body often and in ways that make you feel good, hydrating with water, getting appropriate amounts of sleep, and eating a variety of foods.

Questions to consider/guidelines:

• I make choices that benefit my mind and body.
• I recognize that wellness is not simply the absence of disease, but a lifelong journey of maintaining balance and care for oneself.
• I understand that the choices I make affect my short and long-term health status and outcomes.
• I tend to all of my dimensions of wellness and recognize that finding balance, not perfection is the goal.
• I understand that by maintaining good health, I will be better suited to make progress towards my personal, academic, and professional goals.
• I make incorporating nourishing foods, physical activity, and quality sleep a priority in my life.

Having tenacity means being persistent in our endeavors and learning from the mistakes we make. Being hopeful about your ability to succeed, yet realistic in recognizing that there may be tough roads ahead equips us with the ability to move forward.

Questions to consider/guidelines:

• I greet challenging situations as an opportunity to learn and grow.
• I understand that things I would like to achieve will require patience and hard work, and am committed to seeing things through.
• I understand that skills are acquired and learned with time and dedication.
• I believe that I belong and am confident in my abilities.
• I learn from my mistakes and use them to improve myself.
• I am realistic with my expectations for myself.
• I have an optimistic but realistic attitude.

Building networks of mutually supportive connections with others is crucial to our ability to achieve our goals. In a complex world, few successes can be achieved alone, yet many can be achieved together. A key component of collaboration is managing your perceptions surrounding the context of your interactions with others…being an effective collaborator means you have a high understanding of what behaviors are best for different contexts.

Questions to consider/guidelines:

• I am always true to myself, but act appropriately and accordingly to the varying social and professional environments I am a member of.
• I listen to others with genuine interest and appreciate that everyone has their own experiences that shape their thoughts, bias, and values.
• I willingly work with and support others and allow others to support me.
• I am curious and seek opportunities to learn from and collaborate with others.
• I accept help from others.
• I actively work to expand and enhance my social and professional networks.