Spotlight on resilience and perseverance strategies

There are several strategies you can use to develop your resilience and perseverance.

Briefly read through all the resilience and perseverance activities, then choose two that mean the most to you and work through the task.

Keep a record for yourself as you complete these activities - this will come in handy if you work on the optional final assignment.

Activities:

Practice sharing challenges with others
Use the 'PERMA' model to apply positive psychology
Have a growth mindset
Create an Affirmations poster with positive self-talk

Note: For some of the strategies, you may need to talk to others or look at other websites. Then you will return to this section to complete your responses.

Activity 1: Practice sharing challenges with others

Most athletes who have bounced back after challenging times talk about the importance of sharing their struggles with other people - family, friends, or health support personnel.

It can help ‘lift a weight’ off your shoulders, and it can also be an opportunity to hear someone else’s perspective about how they would tackle a similar challenge.

Download the Powerpoint to record your responses: Resilience and Perseverance - Sharing your challenges.pptx.

Activity 2: Use the 'PERMA' model to apply positive psychology

'Positive psychology' focuses on what is good and positive rather than focusing on the negatives in life.

The PERMA model includes five components to contribute to your wellbeing.

P: Positive emotion
E: Engagement
R: Relationships
M: Meaning
A: Accomplishment / Achievement

Find out more about the PERMA model at the Positive psychology website.
Read through the slides with PERMA activities, identifying your own experiences.
Type your responses on each slide.
At the end, click Export text to save your responses in a document for reference.

Activity 3: Have a Growth Mindset

Facing challenges can be easier when you use a growth mindset, in other words, knowing that mistakes or problems are just an opportunity for learning.

This is tied in with brain science (neuroscience). Your brain is constantly growing, changing and getting stronger and smarter. You learn from mistakes or challenges by practicing new skills and putting in effort.

Read through the growth mindset slides.
List your own experiences with growth and fixed mindset.

Activity 4: Create an Affirmations poster with positive self-talk

Self-talk is your communication with yourself, often referred to as your inner voice.

It can be positive and help you reach your goals and get through challenging times, or negative and make you feel stressed, lack confidence and feel down.

How you talk to yourself impacts how you feel and behave.

Read through the slides about affirmations.
Visit an affirmations website, such as: Beyond Blue Positive Affirmations Forum or 67 Positive Affirmations for Teens.
List your top 5 affirmations and use these to create your own Affirmations poster.
Put the poster in a prominent place at home and read the affirmations daily and reflect on the impact they have on you.