It is impossible to implement change without developing good habits. You know the importance of resiliency in bullying prevention. In order for bullying prevention to be successful in your program, habits that foster resiliency need to be ingrained in the participants. Changing habits is possible but takes hard work, patience, and persistence. In this post we discuss good habits that will ultimately lead to a greater level of resiliency.
Understand Change
A resilient person understands the inevitability of change. Change creates inconvenience and uncertainty but it is important to meet this challenge head on. One simple rule about change is that when pain becomes sufficient, change will occur. Naturally, a problem with bullying will create pain in any organization. Once this is recognized the change to prevent bullying can occur. It is up to you to develop in your population the good habits of understanding change and engaging with the change process.
Handle Disappointment
Disappointment is natural and something that must be dealt with constructively. Resilient people make a habit of dealing with disappointment in a positive way. Change the group’s mindset to view disappointments as challenges rather than serious tragic events. Doing this will allow the group to keep disappointments in perspective and avoid becoming devastated and paralyzed. When you see people failing to deal with disappointment appropriately you can correct and change this bad habit for the opposite.
Manage Stress
Managing stress in a healthy way is an important part of fostering resiliency and bullying prevention in your program. Stress can cause unwanted reactions and increases the incidence of bullying in your program. To counteract this, your participants must develop the habit of dealing with stress constructively. Often times, stress is caused by an individual’s internal reaction to an external situation, often one that is outside of their control. Helping the group to realize this and to be mindful of the situations they can and cannot control is one way to counteract the effects of stress. On an individual level, more tailored interventions may be necessary if you find some are unable to deal with stress appropriately.
Learn from Mistakes
Resilient people, like everyone else, make mistakes. The difference is how they handle these mistakes and how they deal with failure. In order for people to succeed, they usually have to fail first. Failure is part of the learning process. Resilient people recognize that failure is not the end of the world. Instead, they view it as an obstacle they must overcome. This is a habit that must be developed in your program. It ensures that people will stay engaged in the bullying prevention process and will not become discouraged by failure.
Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations are positive statements about oneself such as, “I am a successful person,” “I am able to bounce back from setbacks” and “I am a resilient person.” These types of statements help people move from the negative to the positive and provide the motivation they need to be a resilient person. If you can develop in your group the habit to using positive affirmations you will be amazed at the positive changes it brings to your program!
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