What is resilience?
Arianna Huffington, author, co-founder of the Huffington Post and CEO of Thrive Global, said resilience would bring us into 2021… and it sure feels like we need it right now!
Generally regarded as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, psychologists define resilience as the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with crisis and trauma, and return to the state we were in before the adversity occurred.
The term also evokes a certain level of strength and the ability to renew ourselves. As 2021 is off to a somewhat shaky start and with the future still feeling overwhelmingly uncertain, resilience is an ability that we can all benefit from to rise from the ashes of the pandemic like the proverbial phoenix.
How does our intelligence impact our level of resilience?
There are nine different types of intelligence: spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical, musical, naturalist, existential, linguistic, bodily- kinaesthetic. One in particular that can help with resilience is Intrapersonal Intelligence. You may know people who excel in this particular type; they are often calm in difficult situations and always seem to bounce back from challenges. This doesn’t mean that they experience less distress, grief or anxiety than other people do. It simply means that they handle these difficulties in a way that fosters strength and growth. More often than not, they may emerge even stronger than they were before.
Intrapersonal intelligence types know themselves well. They are self-aware and understand what they feel, what they want and what they need. This self-awareness hinges our intrapersonal intelligence and assists us in managing ourselves. This can include everything from balancing our moods, inspiring ourselves, dealing with setbacks, using our intuition, managing our energy, dealing with stress and precluding conditions such as depression or self-sabotaging behaviours (Shelly, 2015).
Self Awareness in the workplace
Self-awareness is about being in touch with our natural and emotional state in the present moment, while awareness of others is about being able to pick up on another’s constant and emotional state.
A study analysing self-awareness in the workplace (Diamond, 2010) showed that only 36% of the employees tested could precisely recognise their emotions as they happen.
So if Intrapersonal skills help us deal better with increased stress, this strongly suggests that they also make us more resilient.How do we become more self-aware? 