Resilience： The Law of Refinement in an Age of Uncertainty

Zhang Xiaomeng， Cao Lida

CITIC Press Group

August 2022

75.00 （CNY）

Based on the integration of psychology， behavioral science， and other cutting-edge science， the authors of this book propose the “Resilience Flyer” model， which aims to decode anxiety and emotions from three dimensions： awareness， meaning， and connection， to discover and intensify the ability to love， to strengthen self-awareness in relationships， and realize the transmission from individual resilience to organizational resilience.

For adults， the difficulty of moving the fulcrum becomes greater as compared to childhood due to ingrained mindsets and inertial habits， so sustained intervention and modification is the key to resilience enhancement. Our goal in improving psychological resilience is to draw more positive influences and reduce the negative influences of negative experiences. As psychological resilience increases， individuals recover more quickly from adversity and are able to gain more positive experiences and transform both experiences into inexhaustible momentum for personal mental maturity. After understanding the definition of resilience， a deeper understanding of the concept requires a look at the characteristics of resilience.

Resilience is more than just “de-loading.” A large body of previous papers has shown that the more resilient people are， the more quickly they can recover from negative emotions and return to a peaceful and positive state. Still， resilience is more than just a regulator of negative emotions. The composition and changing mechanism of people’s psychological states are very complex， so we cannot simply divide them into healthy and unhealthy by dichotomy. And we cannot interpret good mental health as the absence or low presence of negative emotions. A highly resilient person is an integrative individual， a highly coordinated being， and can live with stress. Highly resilient people can have strong negative emotions， but also a more vital ability to regulate them， allowing them to be released， soothed， and dissipated. They are able to self-motivate and deepen more positive experiences， allowing them to not only de-stress themselves but also have fun. From this perspective， resilience is like our immunity on the psychological level， which helps us recover from illnesses as well as protects our health.

Resilience is more than just “returning to zero.” After a setback， the state of people can be divided roughly into three kinds， which we can use falling eggs， paper balls， and ping pong balls to make an analogy. Falling eggs are the most fragile， broken when they fall to the ground， with no possibility of recovery; paper balls are not damaged when they fall to the ground from a height and remain intact， but they wonld just “l(fā)ie flat” there; while ping pong balls， when dropped to the ground， would bounce off rather high. Faced with an unfavorable event， we do not want to be in a state of broken eggs， but at least a paper ball， preferably like a ping pong ball， getting more and more courageous. There is a concept called “post-traumatic growth” in psychology， which corresponds to post-traumatic stress disorder （PTSD）. As mentioned earlier， after years of major trauma， some victims remain in the shadows and cannot move on， but there are also many who rise from the difficult situation and gain a rebirth-like life experience. Resilience is more than just a “character.” Resilience， perseverance， and persistence have always been admired in our Chinese culture， and everyone can cite stories of historical figures and heroic role models. Nowadays， the legendary experiences of outstanding people in various fields may encourage us to be better selves， but the part about resilience is not so appealing， and we prefer to focus on the wonderful abilities displayed outwardly， while resilience is often seen as a marginal trait. As a psychological potential， resilience has its oddities： a person’s level of resilience can not be arbitrarily judged; only when having experienced a major setback and looking back to review the experience are people eligible to judge the level of their resilience. Therefore， adversity is the best testing ground for psychological resilience. In other words， adversity is not only a test of psychological resilience but also the most important refinement， which means that the enhancement of resilience is， to a certain extent， inseparable from “suffering，” while people are inclined to avoid harm. Numerous psychological studies and my teaching and research experience at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business show that one’s achievement， satisfaction， and loyalty in a career are inextricably tied to resilience. Resilience is rooted in our traditional culture， and to most people， resilience is not seen as a gift but can be improved through training. However， many myths exist about improving resilience， so our first task is disenchantment.

Enhancing resilience is not grinding your teeth and carrying on， but proactively responding. Adults who have entered the workplace want the abilities that can help them be successful， such as leadership， decision-making abilities， and communication abilities. While resilience seems to be related to life’s misfortune and frustration， but far from the core competencies. Some people will even disdainfully say， “Isn’t it just to endure， to bear？ Time will heal everything eventually.” However， research tells that building resilience is not about passively waiting and letting time wash things away， but about the process by which people recover quickly from adversity， proactively use their available resources to regain faith inwardly and seek social support outwardly. At the same time， in our daily lives， we need to consistently train for resilience on seemingly uneventful days， so we can calmly deal with extreme situations that may occur in the future and benefit from the uncertainty.

Enhancing resilience is not suffering but scientifically “seeking fun.” For the building of resilience， doctrine， and theory are not enough to guide the practice， especially at a time when a lot of “success stories” and chicken soup articles are overflowing in the media. Previous papers and the results of independent research show that blind suffering cannot improve psychological resilience. Still， it can easily lead to negative emotions， deplete psychological capital， and even become a source of psychological problems. Therefore， building psychological resilience is not seeking suffering but fun and accumulating more positive experiences. Resilient people are able to allow themselves to bounce back from negative values to zero when they encounter adversity， to ensure that they are not injured in adverse events or disasters， but more importantly， they can quickly restore the correct mental cognition. In this way， they can achieve a positive psychological state. The building of resilience is the source of energy that inspires our personal growth and development.

Zhang Xiaomeng

Zhang Xiaomeng is the associate dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business， associate professor of Organizational Behavior in the Department of Management， and doctoral supervisor. She initiated and continuously tracks the research project on resilience building of Chinese entrepreneurs， and has accumulated exclusive research material with over 5 million data points.

Cao Lida

Cao Lida is the senior researcher at the Research Center for Leadership and Behavioral Psychology at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business， a senior financial media personality， and level-one translator between English and Chinese.