Transferable skills series: resilience

About the Resilience Training Programme

Resilience—the ability to bounce back and thrive from challenges—is a vital skill in both life and work, helping you cope with stress and protect your mental health. The U.S. military has implemented a resilience training programme to help soldiers build mental strength alongside physical strength, using the ABC (Adversity – Belief – Consequence) model. This model posits that a person’s beliefs about events shape their emotions and behaviours. Pessimists tend to view negative events as uncontrollable, permanent, and pervasive, often leading to overwhelm or depression. Optimists, however, see challenges as temporary, changeable, and specific, believing they have control and can solve problems or bounce back.

Key Steps in the Training Programme

• Develop self-awareness and mindfulness to recognise and regulate counterproductive emotions, thoughts, and behaviours.
• Identify what is controllable while remaining realistic to solve problems effectively.
• Avoid framing failure as permanent or inescapable; instead, try new strategies, shift perspectives, and think flexibly.
• Leverage personal strengths and the strengths of others to overcome challenges and meet goals.
• Build strong relationships through positive communication, asking for help, and offering support.
• Minimise focus on worst-case scenarios to reduce anxiety and feelings of overwhelm.
• Cultivate gratitude by recognising the good in every situation, which enhances positive emotions and may improve health, sleep, and relationships.

By adopting these steps, soldiers learn to approach situations with greater optimism and resilience. These principles are equally applicable in the workplace, helping professionals navigate daily challenges and adversity.

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