Resilience makes children Future-Ready. It is one of three core skills our children will need in order to face whatever life may have in store for them. Resilience is a skill we can build. Whether or not a child has resilience, is not the question. They do. But could they have more? Let’s explore! 

 

Did you know that, more than any other practical skill or ability, resilience is the number one thing that predicts future success? Number two, to be precise : )

 

Number one is Self-Regulation, which we talked about last time. 
But Resilience is the close second.

 

Although our definitions and ideas of what constitutes success may differ, it does not matter. Why? Because any version of success will require getting over life’s challenges and dealing with disappointment. That means any sizable goal that our kids find worth pursuing, now or in the future, will require resilience. 

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​So let’s set them up for success.

 

Without resilience children (and adults) get swept by the current of life’s challenges and have difficulty overcoming even the basic of struggles. But those who are resilient, seek ways to get through them and become even stronger. Resilience is what helps us learn new and challenging things to solve new and challenging problems. 

 

Someone who is very skilled but has poor resilience, will struggle to implement those skills in the times of adversity. Resilience is the key that unlocks what we know and can do, and it helps us find whatever else we need in order to resolve an obstacle. It is a way of being. 

 

Resilience is a quality we can strengthen. 

 

That’s great news. It is not a trait, like a personality trait. Even though it is innate and something we are born with, it is something that everyone has (unlike personality traits that differ person to person). Just like all of us are born with muscles. But how strong we make those muscles, depends on whether we use them. Strengthening our child’s capacity for resilience works in a similar way. So it is not a matter of whether your child has resilience, but how much.

 

Facing & overcoming challenges leads to higher resilience.​

 

That means that sheltering kids from struggles and obstacles is counterproductive. This may be what we want to do, since it is natural to want to protect our children. But it is not the right move if we want to raise independent, balanced, and well-functioning adults. Of course, I am not recommending that we just let them struggle alone or leave them face situations way beyond their capacity to handle.

 

We want to make sure we support our children through the challenges they are facing. We also can make it a point of showing them how capable they are.  

 

Tune into today’s conversation and explore with me why resilience is one of the three core skills for the Future and how we can help children be more resilient.

 

In another episode on what makes children Future-Ready,  I gave you an overview of each of the three skills and my reasons why they are the most important for future success. No matter what the future brings, no matter what our children choose to do with their lives, they will need Self-Regulation, Resilience, and Resourcefulness.  

 

Additional episodes on a similar topic:

 

• Nurturing Your Child’s Emotions (How-To)
• How To Affirm & Validate Your Child (Free Guide)

 

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