Over at the school of life, they have released the Virtues Manefesto. Over the next ten days I am going to compare these with the VIA strengths. After all, VIA stands for Values in Action. 

The Virtues Project #1: Resilience

Why it matters

According to Dr Heather Payne & Professor Ian Butler, 

Resilience is a key factor in protecting and promoting good mental health. It is the quality of being able to deal with the ups and downs of life, and is predicated on self-esteem. This in turn is generated by secure early attachments, the confidence of being loved and valued by one’s family and friends, a clear sense of self identity (personal, cultural and spiritual), a sense of agency and self efficacy (being able to make decisions and act independently) and the confidence to set goals and attempt to achieve them.

Which strengths do you need to mind to build your reslience?

Perserverence: Your ability to stick through, especially in tough times, will make all the difference in the world. 

Social intelligence: Being able to read people, to form relationships and adept to the changing social millieu builds your resilience capacity. 

Capacity to love and be loved since attachment seems to play such an important role in resiliance. 

Hope and Optimism allow you to focus on a brighter future, which is key to seeking your goals. 

Self Control: Like perseverence, self control seems central to building capacity for reliency. 

The Penn Resiliancy Project outlines the 7 abilities to building Relisiency in Children:

• Ability 1. Being in charge of our emotions
• Ability 2. Controlling our impulses 
• Ability 3. Analyzing the cause of problems
• Ability 4. Maintaining realistic optimism
• Ability 5. Having empathy for others
• Ability 6. Believing in your own competence
• Ability 7. Reaching Out 

Books worth checking out: