Ladies and Gents I give to you … Resilience. What comes to mind when you think about resilience?
Is it the ability to carry on after a minor hiccup? Is it pushing yourself up off the gym floor to conquer that 11th burpee? Is it dragging yourself out of bed the same time every morning for a week, month, maybe a year? Resilience is something that I have had to practice throughout every stage of my life, from failing my drivers 5 times, to after 6 years of every emotion a human being can feel, finally passing my 3-year degree with the biggest grin on my face. Oh yes, there were tears. You know the ugly kind? You may know it as the ability to never give up on your hopes, goals and dreams no matter what obstacles you may face on your journey. It is getting back up after being knocked down stronger with more determination to achieve. Don’t feel discouraged if you have let something in your past stop you from achieving your goals. You are in luck. It is never too late to try again. Resilience is something that can be practised and over time it becomes so natural you don’t even think about it.
Now you are asking yourself how I can become RESILIENT???
Meditation: The art of getting in touch with your inner thoughts, fears and desires. This may seem like a scary task. I mean who wants to dive deep into the emotions they have buried deep, deep down? It is, however, something you should practice every day even on the good days. Start by trying a few minutes every morning before all the craziness of your day begins. Find a quiet place. If you come from a big Latin family like mine and quiet is not an option, pop your earphones in and play some soothing music. There are many apps these days that also help with guided meditation taking you through different meditations for different aspects of your life. An awesome one to use is Insight Timer. If you are not one for apps, you can follow whatever feels best for you.
· The first step is breathing to calm the mind and relax the body. You may think well, duh! Isn’t breathing like the most vital part of staying alive? While this is absolutely true, but it is in the way that you breathe. Try this. Take a deep breathe in. Hold for three seconds… and breathe out with a heavy sigh, releasing all negative energy and thoughts to clear the mind. Can you feel your body relaxing?
· Gratitude is always an amazing way to start your meditation. Giving 5 –10 reasons for being thankful in your life. Maybe you are grateful for the fact that there wasn’t a power cut before you got a chance to tell all your Instagram followers what you had for breakfast. Gratitude allows you to focus on the positive aspects of your life.
· Visualize. In your mind picture what you want to achieve, your goals and ambitions. Visualizing allows us to see that our dreams are real and in our reach.
Vision Boards: This is a fun one! A vision board is a visual representation of all the goals you would like to achieve. It may be your year goals, where you would like to be in 5 years or your life goals. You can make a new one every year as you achieve goals or your goals change. It is best to keep it up in your workspace for those times you feel like giving up. It reminds you of why you are working so hard. You don’t have to do it alone. It may not be a crazy night out, but doing it with your friends or family is a great bonding experience.
Self-Talk: Our mind is such a powerful tool and what we tell ourselves on a daily basis can make or break us. Here is a scenario, which hits close to home; you fail an exam. On top of all the stress of having to tell your family, you have to deal with our biggest critic, yourself. YIKES! What do we tend to tell ourselves? “How could you be so dumb!” “Well that’s that, I give up”… or we go and do a silly thing by comparing ourselves to others. This is where we need to pause and instead of giving ourselves a hard time, say, “I will try harder next time”, “I am fearless, beautiful, intelligent, independent and I got this!” Talking yourself out of giving up is a powerful tool. Once you master the art of positive self-talk no one and nothing can get to you.
Conquering Fear: My gorgeous mother has always told me our bodies don’t know the difference between fear/anxiety and excitement. So when an obstacle comes along and you get that stage fright, can’t move, palms are sweaty feeling you need to convince yourself that you are just OH SO very excited. Excited to crush whatever you need to, to reach your end goal. If this means jumping up and down saying, “YES I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT EXAM!” Do it.
Whatever you are going through in your life at the moment know that you have a choice. You can either give up or believe in yourself and truck on. I choose YOU and I know you will make the right choice too.
Sending You Good Vibes & Awesome Energy. Carmen Chloe Toms xxx