Cultivating Resilience in Uncertain Times: A Practical Guide

The news this week brought an unsettling reality into our homes once again: another potential war looms on the horizon, with the U.S. government bombing Iran, triggering anxiety, doubt, and uncertainty across the nation.

If you find yourself struggling to jump into another week—or simply feel overwhelmed—please know that your feelings are entirely valid. You are not alone, and navigating these emotions doesn't mean you're doing it wrong.

The fact is that humans are incredibly well-equipped to handle these types of challenges. We can cultivate the skill set to not only navigate through them but to come out stronger on the other side.

That skill set is called resilience.

Understanding Resilience

Resilience is our ability to adapt and recover from difficulties, setbacks, and challenges. Contrary to popular opinion, it's not a trait we are born with. Instead, it's a skill set we can all cultivate through intention, practice, and a dash of patience.

Research highlights resilience as a critical component of well-being. Resilient individuals often experience lower levels of stress, improved sleep, better overall health, enhanced performance at work, and increased satisfaction in relationships.

A study from the American Psychological Association found that individuals with higher resilience experience significantly less anxiety and depression, even in the face of significant life stressors.

Cultivating resilience can transform our response to life's inevitable ups and downs, allowing us not just to survive but to thrive.

Importance of Connection

To support you on this journey and bring a sense of clarity and calm back into your life, here are five actionable, research-backed strategies to help you cultivate resilience.

1. Strengthen Connections with Others

"We don't have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to." – Brené Brown

Why it works: Social support consistently emerges as one of the most potent resilience-builders in research. Meaningful relationships act as emotional anchors, buffering stress and expanding our capacity to cope.

How to do it:

• Prioritize regular social connection. We're not talking about exhausting Friday night house parties here. The key is meaningful connection with people you trust and feel safe with. Even short daily check-ins or weekly calls with loved ones create consistency and comfort, reinforcing emotional bonds.

  
  

• Seek or offer support. Try to remember that resilience is reciprocal. Small acts of kindness and care, like checking in on someone else or lending an empathetic ear, can go a long way for your own sense of connection. If you have the time, consider volunteering for a cause that speaks to you personally.

  
  

• Make room for joy. Connection doesn’t always have to be deep or serious to be meaningful. Shared laughter, silly memes, inside jokes, or even a five-minute dance party with a friend can create warmth and a powerful sense of belonging—no "vulnerability hangover" required.

  
  

Finding Your Purpose

2. Develop a Purpose Practice

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." – Pablo Picasso

Why it works: Staying aligned with your core values and purpose helps provide emotional stability and motivation, especially during stressful periods. Purpose-driven individuals are shown to better navigate unexpected change and recover from setbacks.

How to do it:

• Get to Know You. The better you know and feel confident in your values, the easier it is to align with them. Your GPS might be giving you all the right directions, but that's not helpful if it’s to the wrong destination. You can leverage the VIA Signature Strengths Assessment to learn more about your core strengths.

  
  

• Reflective Journaling. Consider asking yourself a few prompts each day or week that help you focus your thoughts and improve your awareness. Prompts you can try are: “Where did I feel good this week?” or “When did I feel alive?” These reflections guide your actions and reaffirm your sense of purpose.

  
  

• Plan Your Purpose. Sometimes it can be incredibly helpful to reclaim our freedom of will and practice a little self-care. Whether through service, creativity, or meaningful relationships, proactively schedule time in your calendar to do something fulfilling.

  
  

Retraining Your Mind

3. Retrain Your Brain to Work in Your Favor

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." – William James

Why it works: As the saying goes, what we focus on expands. Research in neuroscience and positive psychology shows we can train our brains to interpret the world around us more holistically and constructively.

How to do it:

• Highlight of Your Day. Write out 1-3 highlights of your day and why those moments stood out. This habit primes your brain to notice and create more positive experiences.

  
  

• Name and Frame. Identify your core emotion by naming it. Frame it by asking yourself what you need to manage that emotion or recalling past successes in similar situations.

  
  

• Shared Gratitude. Throughout the week, voice or send a message to someone, praising or thanking them for something specific. This can be as simple as: “Just wanted to say thank you for always supporting me.”

  
  

Tending to Your Body

4. Regulate Your Nervous System

"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you." – Anne Lamott

Why it works: Resilience isn’t purely psychological—it’s also physiological. Managing your body's stress response enhances emotional clarity and improves your energy.

How to do it:

• Feel-Good Fitness. Find ways to exercise that are fun and accessible. Activities like walking, team sports, or even dancing can regulate your nervous system.

  
  

• Breathe, Reset, and Recenter. Integrate mindfulness and gentle movement into your day. Learning to control your breath helps you to think more rationally and strategically.

  
  

• Rest Regimen. Prioritize sleep and rest as foundational practices. Consider mental rest, sensory rest, and even creative rest. Make space for rest, and your entire mind, body, and soul will thank you for it.

  
  

Growth Mindset Development

5. Lean into a Growth Mindset

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." – Winston Churchill

Why it works: Embracing a growth mindset—the belief that you can develop abilities through time and focused effort—directly supports resilience.

How to do it:

• Progress over Perfection. Acknowledge and celebrate your efforts and progress. Growth thrives in recognition of the journey, not just in fixation on the destination.

  
  

• Lessons Learned. Normalize mistakes as essential learning opportunities. Reflect on past challenges to acknowledge what you learned and how you've grown.

  
  

• Failure Fangirl. Research highly successful failures throughout history. The more comfortable you become with failure, the greater your tolerance for risk and ability to bounce back.

  
  

Conclusion

It can be tempting when facing as much fear, uncertainty, and growing pressure to want to hide or give up hope. That makes sense—we have a front-row seat to global crises over which we have very little control.

However, that doesn't mean we are hopeless or helpless. By cultivating resilience in our own lives, we can navigate these challenges with clarity, connection, and purpose. This is essential as we work to come out stronger than ever.

So as you face whatever uncertainties come your way, remember these empowering words from Eleanor Roosevelt:

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

You’ve got this.