In preparation for my keynote to the MI Wellness Council, I’ve
been reviewing the work of George Everly from Johns Hopkins who studied the
resilient characteristics of Navy Seals, law enforcement officers, and children
of the Great Depression. These were all
people who had coped with unfathomable challenging circumstances, and yet somehow
came out the other side with their spirits and integrity intact. Everly’s research found seven characteristics
of highly resilient people:
- · Ability to think calmly under stress
- · Act decisively, once a decision is reached
- · Tenacity is essential
- · Connectedness and support which may be the single most powerful predictors
- · Doing what’s right or integrity ensures connections to others
- · Self-discipline and self-control
- · And, the final core characteristic, and upon which the other six rest is optimism and positive thinking.
If you are like me, you started
considering your personal strengths against these characteristics. Right?
The good news, Seligman in his HBR article, Building Resilience (2011), tells
us we learn to be resilient through life experience, and training that addresses
these characteristics. I can’t wait to
start teaching some cancer survivorship classes around these
characteristics. Do you have some ideas
for these classes you are willing to share?
Let’s talk!
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