Attitude & Building a Resilient Mind

By
Prof. Dr. Nazrul Islam
Northern University Bangladesh
Self Analysis Attitude
&
Building a Resilient Mindset

Contents
1. Self Analysis and Evaluation
2. Attitude and Its Components
3. Definition of Resilience
4. What makes a person resilient?
5. How to Build a Resilient Mindset and Attitude
6. Brain Research Tour
7. Types of Mindsets
8. Fixed Vs Growth Mindsets
9. Mindset is Changeable
10. Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset
11. Questions

Definition of Attitude
i. Evaluations of people, objects or ideas
ii. A predisposition to behave in a favorable or unfavorable manner
toward a particular class of objects.
Attitude structure
i. Cognitive component: Non - evaluative beliefs about the attitude
object
ii. Affective component: Feelings or evaluations about the object
iii. Behavioral component: Predisposition to take certain kinds of
action toward the object
Attitude

Characteristics of attitudes
1. Attitudes are abstract constructs, not something we
can directly observe.
2. Attitudes are enduring.
3. Attitude reflects the readiness for a response.
4. Attitudes are acquired and learned.
5. Attitudes are held because they perform some
function for the holder.
6. Attitudes change with experiences and knowledge.
7. Attitudes are subjective experiences.
8. Attitudes conform to the principle of consistency.
9. Attitudes may involve individual or group.
10.Attitudes are evaluative judgments.
11.Attitudes can be expressed verbally or non-verbally.

From where does attitude come?
Attitude is the product of Genetics and Socialization
(Environmental) factors

Relationships Between the Components

Resilience Definition
1. Resilience allows you to roll with the punches and
cope with what life throws at you.
2. It is the ability to adapt and bounce back when things
don't go as planned.
3. It’s being able to learn from mistakes and move
forward rather than wallow or dwell on failures.
4. Being resilient in some situations can even build
inner strength and boost confidence in many areas of
life.
Resilience – ‘The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness’
(Oxford Dictionary definition)

Some of the world’s most significant inventions resulted
from resilient thinking and attitude.
Thomas Edison, who was a 20th century inventor, spent
most of his working life ‘failing’ in his inventions.
There were tens of thousands of reported failures, but he
never gave up.
He saw each failure as a way of learning from his mistakes,
and in the end had 1,093 US patents in his name, including
the electric light bulb, phonograph, telegraph and motion
picture.
Resilience, Contd.,

So, what makes a person resilient?
Psychologists have identified resilient people as having:
1. a positive attitude
2. optimism
3. the ability to regulate emotions
4. the ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback
5. a flexible approach
6. the ability to adapt to new and different situations the
ability to learn from experience
7. the ability to ask for help when needed
Resilience, Contd.,

Although some people have a disposition to be more
resilient than others, it is something that can be built
and learned.
Building resilience relies on developing behaviors,
thoughts and actions that can create a mindset that
can be used in a variety of ‘life’ situations.
Resilience, Contd.,

Psychologist and executive coach Naomi Harrison
recommends practicing the following strategies to build resilient
thinking:
1. Think about what is working well. This can help problems
seem smaller and empower you to act.
2. Remind yourself of previous accomplishments – both big
and small.
3. Break issues into smaller chunks and smaller goals.
Smaller goals make it easier to see progress and can
motivate you to persist through challenges.
4. Focus on what is in your control and act on that.
5. Be prepared for mistakes or setbacks to happen. When
mistakes happen, see them as problems to be solved and
shift your attention to working out how to overcome the issue.
How to Build a Resilient Mindset
and Attitude

According to the research of psychologist, Susan Kobasa,
there are three elements that are essential to resilience:
1. Challenge – view difficulty as a challenge, not as a paralyzing
event. Look at failures and mistakes as lessons to be learned
from, and as opportunities for growth. Don't view them as a
negative reflection on abilities or self-worth.
2. Commitment –commit to your life and goals. Commit to
relationships, friendships, causes, values and spiritual beliefs.
3. Personal Control –focus on situations and events that you
have control over. Put your efforts where they can have the
most impact and where you feel empowered and confident.
Spending time worrying about uncontrollable events can often
make you feel lost, helpless, and powerless to take action.
and Attitude

Another leading psychologist, Martin Seligman, says the way
that we explain setbacks to ourselves is also important.
This "explanatory style" is made up of three main elements, also
known as the 3Ps:
1. Permanence – Be optimistic and see effects of bad events as
temporary rather than permanent. For example, rather than
saying "My manager never likes anything I do", you might say
“My manager didn’t like my ideas for this program".
2. Pervasiveness – Don’t let setbacks or bad events affect
other unrelated areas of your life. For example, rather than
saying “I’m not good at using excel sheets”, you might say
"There’s more to life than excel sheets."
and Attitude, Contd.,
‘Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something’ (Morihei Ueshiba)

3. Personalization –Don't blame yourself when bad events occur.
Instead, see the circumstance or other issues as the cause, rather
than personalizing it.
For example, rather than saying "I didn’t get the job because I’m
hopeless”, you might say "My qualifications are better suited to
another position."

Other ways of building a resilient mindset and attitude
include:
1. Practice thought awareness to build positive thinking.
2. Practice cognitive restructuring to change the way
that you think about negative situations and bad events.
3. Maintain perspective so a situation can be seen as
being less of an impact over the long-term.
4. Learn to set SMART, effective personal goals so they
can be achievable and match your values.
5. Build your self-confidence so you can develop a strong
sense of self to keep moving forward.

For Example:
Understanding Mathematics

There are two Types of Mindsets
1.Growth Mindset
2.Fixed Mindset
Types of Mindsets

Another way to look at resilience is to examine the Fixed
and Growth Mindset, as coined by Dr Carol Dweck.
The Fixed Mindset is where people believe that their
basic qualities, such as abilities, skills, intelligence and
talent are fixed traits.
The Growth Mindset is where people believe that their
basic skills and abilities can be developed through hard
work and effort. The Growth Mindset opens a world of
learning and creates resilient thinking and attitude.
Types of Mindsets, Contd.,

The Fixed Mindset can have an unhealthy outlook
on many aspects of life when you believe that what
you have is set and can’t be changed.
On the other hand, a Growth Mindset can open
opportunities and positive outcomes when you
believe that traits and qualities can be cultivated
through effort and experience.

Dr Dweck states that when you see your qualities and
situation as fixed, then you tend to try and prove
yourself over and over again to confirm what you
believe and what you want others to believe. This
creates a win/lose mentality. However, when you see
situations as opportunities to grow and develop then
you can thrive in many areas.
In this Growth Mindset failure is seen as
opportunities to learn from and builds on resilient
thinking and attitude.

Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset
1. Acknowledge and embrace your weaknesses
2. View challenges as opportunities
3. Try different learning tactics: what works for
one person may not work for you
4. Replace the word 'failing' with the word
'learning‘
5. Make a new goal for every goal accomplished
6. Value the process over the end result
7. Celebrate growth with others.

Attitude & Building a Resilient Mind

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