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With CYP on your side, you’re ideally prepared for every professional challenge and can therefore be self-determined and successful.

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Being strong and staying flexible at the same time – that is resilience. Resilience is gaining in importance, both for us as people and for future-oriented organisations.

The <span data-tippy-content="The term VUCA comprises the challenges which companies must overcome in an increasing digital world. VUCA is an acronym (made-up word) which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.">VUCA</span> world is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, which unsettles and stresses many people. For example, the Job Stress Index Switzerland 2018[^1] shows that 27.1% of the workforce is emotionally exhausted. Resilience can help you find your centre again. Read how you can strengthen your personal resilience.

[^1]: Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz, [Job-Stress-Index Schweiz 2018](https://www.datocms-assets.com/25771/1604925564-blog-6-job-stress-index-schweiz-2018.pdf), 2018

# The secret of standing tall

What is it about crises that makes some of us stand tall, while others break even when faced with small challenges? The lockdown from mid-March to May 2020 due to the Corona crisis took its toll on many people and pushed some to their mental limits. Others have drawn strength from the unfamiliar situation and enriched their own lives or their environment with new ideas. This example shows: resilience is a special strength, comparable to the immune system of the psyche, to endure stress and learn from it for future challenges.

This inner strength depends on our genetic disposition, our personality as well as the environment. The strengthening of personal factors can be trained into old age. In resilience training, for example, one learns to react more calmly, not to let problems get you down or to better define oneself.

# Resilience research discovers key

In a much-cited long-term study[^2] the US psychologist Emmy Werner accompanied about 700 Hawaiian children born in 1955 over three decades. About a third of these children grew up in very difficult circumstances. They suffered hunger, were neglected or abused. And this also shaped their lives as adults. They became alcoholics, had behavioural problems or dropped out of school.

[^2]: WERNER, Emmy E.; BIERMAN, Jessie M.; FRENCH, Fern E., *The children of Kauai: A longitudinal study from the prenatal period to age ten*, University of Hawaii Press, 1971

Surprisingly, however, almost a third of the children managed to survive their bad start unscathed. They developed into respected members of their communities, some even graduated from university. Emmy Werner's findings from the study can be summarised thus: **The people who survived the difficult childhood unscathed were those who had at least one person in their lives who always stood by them.**

Another important resilience researcher was Viktor E. Frankl (1905 - 1997). The psychologist survived four different concentration camps during the Second World War, losing his parents, his brother and his first wife. He later researched the connection between meaning in life and resilience[^3] and founded logotherapy. In his books, he engaged with Holocaust survivors and explored how people remain emotionally whole in times of crisis. **He was deeply convinced that the why, i.e. the meaning of life, is a central factor of resilience.**

[^3]: FRANKL, Viktor E., *Wer ein Warum zu leben hat: Lebenssinn und Resilienz*, Beltz, 2017

Today, there are numerous other study results on resilience. Research spans the disciplines of psychology, neuroscience, medicine and the social sciences. A conspicuous accumulation of certain factors has been identified in particularly resilient people, which are represented in various models. What all models have in common is that they identify protective factors that are intended to strengthen people.

# 7 Pillars of resilience
The seven pillars of resilience are based on the model[^4] by Dr Franziska Wiebe. It is worth getting to know these resilience factors, comparing them with your own competences and developing them further. **In this way, you strengthen your resilience, learn to react more flexibly in the stressful world of work and keep a cool head more often**.

[^4]: Resilienz Akademie, [Sieben Säulen der Resilienz](https://www.resilienz-akademie.com/sieben-saeulen-der-resilienz), nach dem Modell von Dr. Franziska Wiebel

## 1.	Solution and future orientation

People with high levels of resilience are usually solution- and future-oriented. **They turn their attention away from the past towards future goals**, exploit their scope for action and draw energy and enthusiasm from new goals. For example, they think about: «How can I make it? What else do I need to solve the problem?»

## 2.	Social ties and networks

Those who form and maintain social ties and thus build up a network can get support in crises. A good social network can prevent loneliness. **The stress-reducing effect of social relationships is scientifically proven**. These should be close and authentic relationships from the professional and private network. If the professional network suddenly breaks away, a functioning private network is important. In challenging situations, it helps to talk to other people about one's situation and to feel support. So it is also about opening up and sharing one's own problems with others.

## 3.	Healthy optimism

Healthy optimists look reality in the eye and act accordingly. They have the ability to pursue optimistic thoughts again after adversity without hoping for unrealistic developments. **Optimistic people have the basic attitude that crises are temporary and that something positive can come out of them in the future**. Thus, they experience a crisis situation as a challenge and less as an excessive demand. For example, they consciously practise gratitude and focus their perception on what has been achieved.[^5] They use crises to develop personally.

[^5]: EMMONS, Dr. Robert A., *Das kleine Buch der Dankbarkeit*, Heyne Verlag, 2018

## 4.	Acceptance

Some people have internalised that they accept things they cannot change as they are. In a crisis, for example, they first feel shock, sadness or denial. Soon, however, they accept the unavoidable and thus open the possibility for a constructive confrontation with the situation and later, at best, for the realisation of what they can learn anew or change. **A resilient person has the flexibility to accept only the second-best solution to a problem**.

## 5.	Self-efficacy and self-responsibility

Self-efficacy is the belief in one's own abilities. In a crisis, resilient people remember similar difficult situations that they have mastered and are convinced that they are also up to the current challenge: They are ready to take responsibility for themselves. **They manage to leave the victim role and act in a self-responsible and self-caring way in challenging situations**. They focus on areas they can control themselves and become active there.

## 6.	Self-awareness

Being aware of one's own needs, sensations, thought and behaviour patterns and taking appropriate action when needed – that is self-awareness. The molecular biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn developed the mindfulness training MBSR[^6] in the 1970s to help pain patients cope with their constant pain. They learn to focus their full attention on the present moment and to observe thoughts, body sensations and sensory impressions without judging them. As a result, they develop more acceptance and discomfort is perceived as less distressing.

[^6]: KABAT-ZINN, Jon, *Gesund durch Meditation*, O.W. Barth, 2011

Imaging techniques (magnetic resonance imaging MRI) show what changes in the brain during regular mindfulness or meditation practice: The amygdala shrinks and the hippocampus grows. As a result, anxiety decreases and positive emotions increase. **Through more mindfulness, the person becomes more alert, more attentive, handles stress better, has a stronger immune system and is more benevolent with himself and in his dealings with others**. 

## 7.	Self-reflection

Those who observe themselves and take different perspectives can evaluate their thoughts, feelings and actions in a more targeted way. They recognise their own patterns, can rethink them and trigger a process of change. A resilient person has a reflective wealth of experience which helps him or her to find suitable strategies for achieving personal goals. **Such people are less likely to remain trapped in the hamster wheel because they look at themselves more often from the meta-level**.

Self-reflection also involves people knowing their personal values and constantly updating them. From this, they can better derive and implement their needs. If, for example, one's own values have to be constantly suppressed at work, this can trigger negative stress that can affect health if it lasts longer.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/25771/1604995279-molekuel-155.jpg?ar=736:368&fp-z=1.45&fp-y=0.37&fp-x=0.6)

# Strengthen yourself now
It is not mandatory that all seven pillars of resilience are equally well developed in every person. Resilience training can provide orientation and determine individually which factors a person can strengthen in the future in order to master their challenges in a relaxed manner. It is also important for organisations to increase resilience.

Resilient people protect themselves: If their workload is too heavy for them over a longer period of time and the employer does nothing, they will take responsibility for themselves and leave. They are aware of their values and live them. They are not discouraged by stress and failure. They work efficiently and stay healthy.

In CYP's Skills 4.0 course, resilience training is an important component.

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