Resilience

resource • 09/05/2025 •

Bouncing Back When Life Gets Tough.

Sport teaches us a lot — how to work as a team, how to push through pain, how to win (and lose) with fairness. But one of the biggest lessons? Resilience.

Resilience is your ability to bounce back when things don’t go to plan — whether it’s a tough game, a stressful week at school, or life just feeling overwhelming.

Just like fitness, you can train your brain to practice being more resilient by:

Building your emotional regulation toolbox — learn what helps you stay calm and grounded when emotions get big or uncomfortable.

Becoming aware of your thoughts — noticing negative thinking patterns and learning to shift them to something more helpful.

It’s important to remember: there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. What works for a friend might not work for you, and what helps today might not be useful next week. The key is to keep exploring different tools until you find what works best for you, when you need it most.

Understanding the difference between healthy and unhealthy emotional regulation strategies is the next step.

Healthy strategies help you feel better in the long run, not just for a moment. These are the strategies that can help build your resilience.

Unhealthy strategies can offer temporary relief in the short-term but make the situation worse in the long-term.

Here are some examples:

Healthy	Unhealthy
Take a break and come back to the problem when you have a clear head.	Isolating yourself
Spend time with a pet	Using violence
Breathe deeply	Vaping or Smoking
Call or message a trusted friend	Drinking alcohol or using other drugs to escape your feelings
Exercise	Avoid your problems
Take up a new hobby or something you enjoy
Get enough sleep & eat well
Use positive self-talk

Another way to train your brain and boost your resilience is take notice of your thoughts. Every day, you have thousands of thoughts — some helpful, some not. Becoming aware of your thinking, especially the negative ones, gives you the power to change them.

If you notice you are giving a lot of your focus to the negative thoughts, try to:

Challenge it: Is this thought really true?

Reframe it: What would be a more helpful way to think about this?

This takes practice, but over time, your brain can learn to focus more on the thoughts that lift you up — and help you keep moving forward.

If you notice your thoughts are becoming more negative and they are bothering you, reach out to someone you trust. You could also reach out to health care professionals such as your GP or mental health professional or visit an online help service.

For more information and resources to support yourself or a young person who is struggling, please check out the below links:

ClearlyMe® for Teens – Black Dog Institute | Better Mental Health

Learn How to Handle Tough Times to Help Your Headspace | headspace