Building Resilience and Overcoming Challenges: How a Positive Mindset Can Help You Succeed in College

We are told that human beings are truly resilient, and time and again, this has come to light especially after difficult and traumatic events encountered by either a small community, or the world at large. Out of all the things the COVID- 19 pandemic taught us, one of the most essential reiterations has been to embrace change. The sudden, unexpected, even traumatic changes brought about by the pandemic has left us to wonder how our minds have been able to adapt (if at all they did) and then come out of it stronger. The question is- did we really come out stronger? While enough has been written about human resilience during times of COVID, the kind of challenges that students went through have been so layered and complex. From having to switch to online classes and being physically away from friends and teachers, to ensuring that they are focused and absorbing everything that is taught online; the change has been hard on students.

Now that the world settles into the post- pandemic era, the society holds a greater responsibility to ensure that students learn to be kind to themselves and focus on building the required resilience to thrive in this fast- paced, AI driven post- pandemic era. The pandemic has shown us how our ability to bounce back from difficult times would be the key differentiator between being successful and unsuccessful. Of course, how we define success is absolutely personal and can be different things. With the increasing focus on mental and emotional stability, it becomes important that we educate the young with the skills they require to be resilient and agile. Creating a safe environment where students can feel comfortable and can express themselves freely, be it at home, or at school or college, is the first step. Empowering students to develop “trust circles” can be helpful in encouraging them to share uncomfortable feelings. The secret to building resilience lies in emotional intelligence; a concept widely known, yet not taken seriously across all domains.

Self- Awareness

We are often asked to talk about our strengths and weaknesses in admissions and job interviews, and while we may have a well- prepared answer for that, most often we haven’t reflected well on the response. Now why is this relevant in talking about building resilience? An important part of building resilience is building self- awareness. Self- awareness comes from a very deep and thorough understanding of ourselves and our emotions. In order to build self or emotional awareness we must also be aware of what our core strengths are and also our areas of improvement or weaknesses. Encouraging students to find a trusted mentor, including a peer mentor, and helping them engaging in discussions that provide helpful feedback, can truly help them in discovering themselves and becoming more self- aware. Allocating at least 5 minutes each day to reflect on how you wish to plan your day, or how your day has been (depending on whether you find time at the start of the day, or towards the end) is critical in understanding your own emotions and also how you respond to your own emotions and that of others. This ability is helpful in managing ourselves during challenging times, as you become more aware of your negative emotions and are able to manage them more effectively.

Foster Connections

As you become more self- aware, your ability to focus on awareness of others becomes stronger and you can therefore focus on building stronger connections. Understanding the emotional makeup and the responses of others is critical in forming healthy relationships. As human beings, we cannot live in isolation and having a solid social support system is key to our emotional and social wellbeing. Diversifying your network helps us develop a perspective different from our own, especially with regards to managing ourselves, managing crises, learning about various self- care strategies, as well as connecting with ourselves and others. The most important challenge we face today is towards building authentic relationships. In the world of social media, what seems to be real is not always what is real and therefore, evaluating which relationships are authentic from those that are not is an important step towards developing a strong social support system. Remember, “less is more” can be true of genuine relationships.

Practice Mindfulness

Here is an age old practice that appears to be simplistic given that it means being in the present moment, intentionally, and being non- judgmental about it. In fact, it can be one of the most difficult things to do, especially given the times we are in with so many distractions making us lose our attention spans. So then how do we go about practicing mindfulness? Bringing our mind into the present moment is not an easy task. Engaging all your five senses into any daily routine activities can help you bring your mind in that moment. Activities can include anything from having a mindful coffee, to taking mindful walks, exercising, mindful eating, listening or mindful meditation. While practicing mindfulness it is important to be kind to yourselves as this can be like a roller coaster ride and you may find yourself drifting away into thoughts of past and future from time to time. Regular practice using compassion can help in becoming mindful which is known to have immense benefits on not just our physical and mental health, but also productivity and attention spans. Being mindful can help in addressing negative emotions and have a direct positive impact on developing resilience.

Organizations across the globe have shifted focus on asking their employees to slow down and focus on the present moment, build attention and focus, develop self-compassion and empathy, and with heightened self- awareness, build emotional muscle to power through the challenges. It is rightly said that as the world evolves, the complexities multiply, and therefore, human begins need to resort to their instinctual abilities of using their emotions as a powerful tool to navigate through these complexities. While the young generation may find it overwhelming to think about the future, the secret lies in focusing on their present moment, since the answer lies in the now. 

The article is authored by Dr Bijal Oza, International Psychology, Global Director- Counseling & Coaching Center, S P Jain School of Global Management