How to build resilience and stay healthy during a pandemic

During the early days of the pandemic, I found myself struggling for motivation. No longer able to attend F45 or the gym, my regular fitness regime took a hit. Evening running was far too easily replaced, by gin and tonics or a good bottle of wine.

In an incredibly short period of time, all the good work and habits I had established were quickly unwound. Until I took ownership of the issue.

Certainly, the easing of restrictions helped. But most of all I knew I needed to get back to my previous mindset. One where I had placed importance on my health and understood why dealing with knockbacks – resilience – had helped me overcome previous adversity.

Like building a muscle, increasing resilience requires time and dedication. You have to put in the work.

Most people I know are conditioned to think of resilience as a personality trait (either you have it or you don’t), but this isn’t the case.

With intention and practice, you can become more resilient, no matter your age, stage or experience.

There isn’t one specific strategy to use to build resilience. It’s a process of establishing connections, coping with stress, adjusting your thought process, and fostering physical wellness.

SO WHY IS RESILENCE IMPORTANT?

Resilience is the ability to respond to, recover, and ‘bounce back’ after facing adversity or stress.

You have probably noticed that some people you know seemingly cope better than others when faced with setbacks – what affects one person may have little impact on another.

The key difference is that resilient people can utilise their skills and strengths to cope and recover quicker from any problems and challenges that they face.

Being resilient does not mean that a person experiences less stress, grief or anxiety. Normal people will experience normal levels of distress proportionate to the problem, however, resilient people will face difficulties, work their way through and move on.

You can develop resilience in many ways.

Conversely, individuals lacking resilience may become overwhelmed, ignore problems, engage in destructive coping strategies, become stuck, and experience a decline in psychological and physical wellbeing.  

WHY YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON YOUR HEALTH AND WELLNESS - AND THAT OF OTHERS

There is no playbook for maintaining emotional health and wellbeing during a global pandemic, and all types of people are struggling.

Firstly, you must recognise that your mental health hygiene needs to be looked after – exercise regularly, eat healthy meals, and get more sleep.

Prioritise sleep. I am a light sleeper, my wife isn’t. I learned during the shutdown period how important maintaining a sleep pattern was – especially one uninterrupted by alcohol!

I’ve paid extra attention to what goes in my mouth. By focusing on healthy eating habits, I still enjoy the occasional ‘Betty’s burger’ or UberEats dine-in, but have planned in more healthy and balanced options.

Believe it or not, dehydration directly increases symptoms of stress. So be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

I’ve also focused much more on remain active and sticking to a daily exercise, regime. For me, this has been getting back to F45 (functional HIIT) and running, but for you, it could be walks, cycling, or the gym. Anything to be active.

If you are working from home like my wife, it is important you take regular breaks, go for a walk or even watch last night’s episode of The Bachelor, anything which helps break the time you are spending in front of your computer screen.

It is also important you have a natural end to your working day – something I have been terrible at. This requires real discipline or you run the risk of going to bed with work as the last thing on your mind. Which cannot be a good thing!

In the past, I’ve used techniques such as meditating and listening to podcast or ebooks to help clear my mind and set positive thought patterns.

Of course, now is the time to check in on people. Work on building and engaging in meaningful relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.

Identify your values, have goals, and build your confidence.

Resilience, especially employee resilience is vital for thriving organisations. The workplace is an excellent place for us to learn about resilience and take control of our wellbeing.

As isolation and disruption to normal daily routines continue, it is natural to expect shifting emotions, feelings of irritability, disconnection, and other signs of stress and anxiety.

There is no easy way through this crisis, but building coping skills and resilience will help you work through the emotional upheaval triggered by this pandemic.

By developing effective coping strategies, we will get through our current coronavirus crisis, as well as deal with any future challenges we might face.

Less alcohol, healthy eating, regular exercise and connecting with the people that matter has made the world of difference for me.

Whatever path you take, stay well, stay healthy and good luck!