How SLPs can Bounce Back Quickly From Any Situation With These 4 Steps

Each school year, our team picks a meaningful word that helps us stay focused, connected, and celebrate the noble profession of speech pathology.

Choosing a word of the year is a powerful way to create new intentions and serves as a reminder to take a specific action (or just stop and relax). 

And, as you know from the previous blog post (link here), our word for this year is RESILIENCY. 

In our last blog post (link here), we have explained what resiliency is and why it is crucial for our profession.

Now, we will focus on the four types of resiliency, why they are essential, and how we can develop emotional and cognitive resiliency in 4 easy, yet powerful steps.

Resiliency - what is it, and why is it important?

The word resiliency (or resilience) was recorded back in 1620 as the "act of rebounding." Resiliency is a trait that every person has and means our ability to withstand adversaries and quickly bounce back from difficult times.

The Four Types of Resiliency

Resiliency can be divided into four types - emotional, physical, mental, and social.

Emotional Resilience

Emotional resiliency is the ability to overcome the adverse effects of stress emotionally. This is not about winning the battle; it is the strength to carry through the storm and still keeps the sail steady.

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela.

Physical Resilience

Physical resilience is all about our bodies' ability to maintain strength, adapt to adversaries and recover quickly. An example of physical resiliency is a person's ability to move one baby step at a time when faced with hardship.

Mental Resilience

Mental resilience is defined by an individual's ability to cope with hardships and bounce back quickly mentally. Mental resilience is often associated with having grit - that combination of persistence, resilience, and ambition to pursue a goal without long-term achievement.

“...grit grows as we figure out our life philosophy, learn to dust ourselves off after rejection and disappointment...."  Angela Duckworth

Social Resilience

Social resilience is about connecting with others socially. This looks like meeting with a friend, catching up with a coworker, networking, etc.

The key to developing these 4 types of resilience and improving your wellbeing is to focus on the things you do have control of and to find peace between balancing the expected moments and navigating the moments that pop up unexpectedly. The four steps below will help you to strengthen your emotional, physical, mental, and social resiliency.

4 Steps to Bounce Back from Any Situation

"Resilience is a muscle. Flex it enough, and it will take less effort to get over the emotional punches each time." - Alecia Moore (aka Pink).

Here are four steps that will help you strengthen your resiliency muscle:

1) Positive thinking: Reframe negative thoughts and refocus your energy on the positives. Tell your personal story from a positive point of view and be very mindful of your thoughts. Remember, thoughts become things, so be very selective of your thoughts. 

2) Reflect on your wins: Highlight your accomplishments, even the little ones. Get a winning jar, write all of your wins and collect them in your winning jar. Reflecting on your wins is extremely helpful for picking yourself up, especially when you face some adversary.

3) Set achievable goals: Break challenging tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. If something seems too complicated, break it down into meaningful steps. Baby steps go a long way as they diminish our decision fatigue and empower us to move forward.

4) Relationships: Relationships have a huge impact on your mental health and happiness. They encourage you to move on and grow when the times get tough. But friends offer more than a shoulder to cry. Some researchers suggest that friendships positively impact your wellbeing and are as important as eating right. So, make time to nurture the relations you value.

As you see, resiliency is a crucial skill that helps us bounce back, keep going and grow when the times get tough. And let's admit it - our profession is really special, but sometimes we face stress, and that is when resiliency helps. By applying the above steps, you will grow your resiliency muscle and improve your wellbeing.

What Resiliency Means to Our Team

Resilience means getting back up and dusting yourself off to come back even better and stronger no matter what life throws at you. -Michelle K., M.S., SLP-CF

Resilience means, despite challenges or failures, you keep trying. Resilience means remembering what you can control and do your best. Resilience means continued effort, even in the face of difficulties. - Haley W., M.A., CCC-SLP

Strength to persevere in the most challenging times. -Theresa C., M.A., CCC-SLP