Remaining Resilient and Empowered Through a Positive Mindset
By Jody Bell
How do you remain resilient despite changes in your environment? How do you go about changing your mentality and perception? How do you form a healthy relationship with yourself?
I bet you have thought of at least one of these questions in the past year ‒ not only was there a global pandemic, but school suddenly looked different, financial tensions rose, and family dynamics shifted. Adolescence as a young girl is already difficult, and after the turbulence of this past year many of us are still reeling from the stress and changes.
That is why Girls With Impact has partnered with Choose Love to deliver a free workshop to reflect, recharge, and learn the key to resilience.
Here we will discuss the foundations of social and emotional learning ‒ a strategy of thinking that is crucial to healthy relationships, meaningful connections, ressilencey, and regulating our emotions.
To get you thinking, we've outlined some of the basics to social and emotional learning‒ start thinking about these topics, jot down some notes, and share your thoughts with us on Monday, May 25th, at 7pm EST!
1. How do I start to engage with social and emotional learning
Our friends at Choose Love have literally cracked the code to social and emotional learnings ‒ they’ve developed a formula to help guide people through the journey.
Courage + Gratitude + Forgiveness + Compassion = The Choose Love Formula.
Don’t let the simplicity of this formula fool you ‒ this combination of purposeful and meaningful actions is actually much more complex than it looks. For many, interpreting what these truly mean can be daunting ‒ and combining them can be incredibly difficult. Understanding how to have courage through a lens of compassion is not something we are traditionally taught ‒ and that is because each of these terms and actions develops a new meaning when placed in the context of this formula.
2. What part does responsibility have in this?
Scarlett Lewis, founder of the Choose Love movement, says that personal responsibility “gives kids an awareness of who they are and an understanding and compassion for others.”
At its core, social and emotional learning is based on responsibility and accountability. Understanding the effect that your words can have on others is fundamental to treating others with empathy. Individually, ensuring that we have a responsibility to ourselves is also what helps foster a healthy relationship with your body, mind, and being. Whether you’re setting boundaries, getting up early to walk in the fresh air, or noticing when your mood turns sour and you need to have some you-time ‒ these are all actions that have to do with your responsibility to yourself.
3. What about confidence?
Just like responsibility, it is nearly impossible to engage with social and emotional learning unless you have the confidence to do so.
Here at Girls With Impact confidence is a focal point of ours. We’ve observed a 30% drop in confidence for young girls between the ages of 8-14, and through our business academy we are hoping to show these young girls what they are capable of by giving them a bit of a toolkit.
Confidence is crucial to engaging with social and emotional learnings ‒ that’s exactly why we’re so excited about Girl’s With Impact’s involvement in this workshop! Having confidence in yourself is not just presenting a school project in front of the class or standing up to a bully. It’s self-acceptance and it is what inspires you to be patient and understanding towards yourself. Without confidence and self-love there is no responsibility to be kind towards your body and mind.
We believe everyone should have exposure to social and emotional learning ‒ especially after the year we have had. So, tune in Monday, May 25th, at 7pm EST to learn more about this crucial mentality and have a chance to reflect and grow with your peers.
Jody Bell, 19, is Girls With Impact’s Chief Editor and a program graduate of Greenwich High School. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, after-school, entrepreneurship program for girls 12-21, turning them into tomorrow’s business leaders and innovators. More info at www.girlswithimpact.org