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Manage stress and anxiety. Develop the resilience and self-determination to overcome procrastination and obstacles. Be empowered to take ownership and deal with uncertainty.

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Jump to section:听Understanding Resilience | Cultivating Resilience and Managing Stress and Anxiety | Quick Guide to Becoming More Resilient听| Quick Guide to听Managing Stress and Anxiety听| Taking Action | Resources | References

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Understanding Resilience

Resilience is the capacity to bounce back from adversity, conflict, failure, or even positive events (such as increased responsibility, or progress), therefore adapting to changing circumstances. ^[][]听

Why does it matter?

Whether at work, school, or in personal life, our resilience and self-determination are often challenged. Developing resilience helps you to overcome challenges, such as those resulting from difficult relationships, disrupted work-life balance, and stressful or tragic events.听Cultivating resilience can also contribute to increasing your ability to accept and respond constructively to criticism.听^[]听In a large study on resilience in the workplace (835 respondents), 99% of employees considered resilience to be important for career success, and 56% said it was essential. Resilience is key for advancement: senior employees in this same study considered resilience integral in leadership development.听^[]听

Resilience of higher education student population leads to social and educational gains and positively correlates with students鈥� problem-solving skills.听^[]听Developing resilience is also positively associated with happiness ^[] and can be an important factor in reducing the stress and anxiety associated with challenging situations. For example, if you have developed the capacity to create an effective and healthy work schedule while accounting for potential sources of delays, you will meet your deadlines and achieve your goals with less stress and a higher potential for success.听

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Cultivating听Resilience and Managing Stress and Anxiety

A resilient person conquers challenges by mobilizing various personal resources such as knowledge, strengths, skills and abilities, and psychological capital -which includes, in addition to resilience, other positive capacities such as hope, optimism, and efficacy ^[]. In fact, research in positive psychology has shown that resilience, optimism, and efficacy ^[][] can be developed ^[][][], instead of being exclusively attributed to 鈥済ifted鈥� individuals as it has been previously believed ^[], are skills which can be developed by anyone.听Acceptance and adaptation are key mechanisms to employ when confronting uncertainty and events we cannot control.听Accepting and learning from failure (not to be confused with admitting defeat) is vital in reaching the greatest achievements.听No breakthrough could be made without taking risks and accepting their consequences, or without persistence, perseverance and determination when facing challenging obstacles such as failure. The moon landing is arguably one of the biggest accomplishments of humanity. We all remember Neil Armstrong's famous words: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.鈥� Did you know that this 鈥渙ne small step鈥� was preceded by a long list of failed national and international missions (over forty) coordinated by the greatest minds in the field? ^[][]听Failure did not deter NASA from accomplishing what was long thought to be the impossible, and nor should it deter you in the pursuit of your personal or professional goals.听听听

Another important consideration in the cultivation of resilience is the development of coping self-efficacy.听Introduced by psychologist Albert Bandura in 1977, coping self-efficacy refers to your belief in your own ability to succeed in a specific situation.听^[]听High levels of coping self-efficacy have been linked to enhanced goal achievement ^[], decreased stress ^[], and increased academic resilience.听^[]听Thus, in the same way that the title character in the children鈥檚 book The Little Engine that Could succeeds in getting up the hill by chanting 鈥淚 think I can! I think I can!,鈥� cultivating the belief that you are capable of achieving what you set out to do (coping self-efficacy) will make you more likely to succeed against any obstacles that may arise.听

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Quick Guide to Becoming More Resilient

Evaluate and gain perspective on your situation:听

• Look at the specific situation in its larger context so that you can be more realistic about its severity and about what you can and cannot control. The Serenity Prayer by philosopher and theologian Reinhold Niebuhr beautifully illustrates this concept: 鈥淕rant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.鈥� ^[]
• Calculate risk and anticipate obstacles.听^[]
• Conceive a solid Plan B.听^[]听

Use your self-knowledge听 when faced with challenges:听听

• Use the Self-Knowledge handout to help you determine your strengths and leverage those relevant to the challenge.听^[]
• Prepare for anticipated obstacles by developing your knowledge and problem-solving skills to tackle challenges as they arise.听^[]

Develop a growth mindset:听听

• 鈥淐hallenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.鈥濃�� Joshua J. Marine;听听
• Cultivating a growth mindset over a fixed mindset has been shown to result in higher achievement.听^[]听Interpret your problems as an opportunity for growth (a 鈥渘ot yet鈥�) rather than a fixed outcome.听听
• Try completing the 鈥渂enefit -finding鈥� exercise: for 20 minutes a day on three consecutive days, reflect on the positive aspects of a difficult situation (e.g. a traumatic event or a loss) that you have experienced in your life.听 How have you changed or grown as a person from this experience? How has this experience made you better able to meet the challenges of the future? ^[][]

Increase your self-efficacy by setting small goals and recognizing your progress towards them, asking for input from a professional or watching someone you admire complete a task similar to the one you are struggling with, and by reflecting and celebrating your past accomplishments.听^[]

Seek community by creating or attending a support group to reflect and听 relate to others facing similar difficulties听

Ask for advice and recommendations from a mentor, a sponsor, or a coach.听^[]

Develop strategies for stress and anxiety management (see next section).

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Quick Guide to Managing Stress and Anxiety

Remember that stress is a normal part of life: a certain level of stress is healthy and can motivate increased levels of productivity and creative problem solving.听 Everyone experiences stress differently and what can be stressful to one person may not be stressful to another.听 However, prolonged stress can have a negative impact on health ^[] and should be addressed.听 Use the Self-Knowledge handout to help you evaluate your stressors and incorporate self-care strategies into your life as needed to recharge and replenish from periods of intense stress or anxiety.听听

Adopt healthy ways of living such as sleep hygiene, nutrition, physical activity, and social activity.听

Mindfulness is a powerful tool that produces positive emotional states and psychological being overall.听^[]

• It is the practice of continually returning your attention to the present moment with patience and non-judgment by using an object of focus such as the breath or a physical object.听 Mindfulness can be applied to a simple action such as doing the dishes to more specialized formats adapted for various mental and emotional difficulties, such as anxiety and depression ^[] or physical difficulties (e.g. pain management).听^[]听Please note that meditation and mindfulness practices are not for everyone.听 Those with a history of trauma, PTSD, and/or suicidal thoughts are encouraged to proceed with caution听
• See the 鈥淭aking action鈥� section for mindfulness and meditation resources听

Goal setting helps to develop a sense of personal agency. Incorporating goal setting strategies into one鈥檚 work and personal life has been shown to have a positive impact on stress and anxiety.听^[][]听

• Identify life goals that are important for your self-satisfaction with the following exercise: write 1-2 pages for your 鈥済oodbye party speech鈥�.听 What would you like to have said about you? What would make your life more satisfying and fruitful? The answer to these questions are your goals. Is there something that you need to be doing more or less of in order to reach these goals?听
• Make sure your goals are (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound)听

Here are some strategies to consider to help you progress towards a goal:听

• Own this goal: how does it relate to your values? How important is it for your success?听
• Make it fun: how can you make the progress towards your goal more enjoyable?听
• Remember the big picture: how does it align with your long-term or broader priorities?听听听听
• Keep a balance: How would you distribute your time and effort between your different goals?听听
• Use the myPath toolkit to help you create and pursue your goals听
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Taking Action

Workshops & Programs听

• Check for upcoming workshops and programs under 鈥淏e well: Resiliency.鈥�
• The Student Wellness Hub听(@healthiermcgill)- They can support you in building, enhancing, and achieving resilience through听workshops, groups, and wellness outreach activities.听
• Managing Stress in Uncertain Times Workshop
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Websites & Apps听

• Check out 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and try their meditation guide
• - A clear, simple approach to meditation.听 Designed for skeptics, built to help you keep it going.
• - The #1 free meditation app. Guided meditations and talks led by the world鈥檚 top mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, psychologists and meditation teachers. Also includes music tracks and a simple timer.
• : motivational goal-setting, self-help app.
• Mindfulness at 捆绑SM社区听
• 捆绑SM社区 audio for meditations and relaxation - mindfulness meditation facilitates awareness of our thought patterns, our emotions, and how we experience stress or happiness.
• Gratitude (on and ): A personal journal app to help you focus your attention on the positive things in your life. You can set it up to receive reminders to write about things that you're grateful for each day.
• 鈥揳n interactive and dynamic easy to access online program to help with depression and anxiety.听
• Todoist (on听听and听):听Your virtual to-do list to organize work and life.听
• :听A time management technique to work with the time you have, rather than working against it.
• :听Calculate when you should go to sleep based on average sleep cycles.
• Forest Stay Focused: on听听and听:听an app that helps you stay present & focused on your work
• Asana (on and ): A platform for group work to ensure that you and your team are focused on the goals, tasks, and projects.
• Trello (on and ): Your go-to tool for managing tasks and projects.
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Resources

Books, Articles & Reports听

• Brantley, J. (2007). Calming your anxious mind: How mindfulness and compassion can free you from anxiety, fear, and panic. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. 听
• Graham, L., & Hanson, R. (2013). Bouncing back: Rewiring your brain for maximum resilience and well-being. Novato, Calif: New World Library. 听
• Maddi, S. R., & Khoshaba, D. M. (2005). Resilience at work: How to succeed no matter what life throws at you. New York: AMACOM. 听
• Palmer, S. & Gyllensten, K (Eds.).听 (2015).听 Psychological Resilience and Wellbeing (Vols. 1-3).听 New York, NY: Sage.听 听
• Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York: Riverhead Books.听 听
• Siebert, A. (2005). The resiliency advantage: Master change, thrive under pressure, and bounce back from setbacks. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.听 听
• Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2012). Resilience: The science of mastering life's greatest challenges.听 听
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References