Got Bounce? is Pauletta Washington's educational series on the UN Development Programme's Crisis Prevention and Recovery. Got Bounce? helps people of all ages to build the skills necessary for recovery from any crisis.

Build self-esteem and confidence.

The Mayo Clinic tells us that low self-esteem can negatively affect virtually every facet of life, including your relationships, your job and your health. However, we can harness the power of our own thoughts and beliefs to change the way that we feel about ourselves.

Tips from the Mayo Clinic to build self-esteem:

Pay attention to your thoughts and the situations that deflate your self-esteem. Spend more time with people and in situations where you share common interests and feel stimulated.

Ask yourself whether your interpretation of a hurtful event is consistent with facts and logic, or whether other explanations for the hurtful situation might be plausible.

Stop “all or nothing" thinking. If you don’t succeed at first, try again. Avoid "should" and "must" statements. Consider more realistic expectations.

Stop jumping to negative conclusions. There might be other explanations. Stop mistaking feelings for facts. Your beliefs or feelings might not be the facts.

Forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes — and mistakes aren't permanent reflections on you as a person. Step back. Don’t let your thoughts overwhelm you.

Focus on the positive. Think about the good parts of your life. Treat yourself with kindness and encouragement. Give yourself credit for making positive changes.

QUESTIONS

How do you form opinions about yourself, your abilities, and your strengths?

How do you respond to praise and to criticism?



Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone.

If every one of us becomes more resilient or helps another person to develop resilience and confidence, we will all become more successful socially and academically. We will be better prepared to cope with life.

The skills of resilience you learn during really bad times will be useful even after the bad times end. These are good skills to have every day.

Resilience can help you be one of the people who've "got bounce".