MODULE 4: Resilience, Assertive Communication and Mental Strength Part 2

• Developing the 32 skills of resilience: the emotional and social skill set that enables a child to positively handle, endure and overcome any of life's ups and downs
• Cultivating and prioritising what is on the inside (good character and a backbone) rather than focusing on what is on the outside (looks, fashion, celebrity and what other people think)
• Learning to think for yourself, rather than following the sheep/crowd
• Advanced skills for the positive handling of rejection, criticism, conflict, bullying and failure
• Understanding whether you are an introvert or an extrovert; embracing your way of relating to others, but also being prepared to work on the shortfalls. For example, introverts need to learn how to socialise and extraverts need to learn how to be comfortable being alone
• Learning to face anxieties instead of trying to escape them
• The basic foundations of healthy self-esteem
• Recognising anger and stress and knowing how to deal with it
• Understanding that fears are part of being human, but are obstacles to our growth
• Challenging and facing fears are part of gathering wisdom and developing courage
• Developing skills and plans to resist peer pressure/media pressure and learning to listen to your gut feeling
• The ability to see the difference between acting tough in front of your friends and acting smart
• Mastering the ability to delay gratification - because our culture rewards speed, we need to take the opportunity to pause and rethink before we respond to every text message and email with haste and urgency. Gotta have it or do it now! No you don't  - let's discuss why
• Making the right decisions. Speed in decision-making should not come at the expense of good decisions
• Valuing your individuality
• Developing clear boundaries and a strong sense of self
• Accepting, embracing and tolerating diversity
• Understanding the difference between being alone and being lonely
• Challenging the expectations and generalisations about men and women
• Further learning on the appropriate and mature expression of anger (known as assertiveness)
• How to be a confident communicator
• Awareness that the world is not black and white; there are also shades of grey. In mastering the habit of recognising all the sides of a situation or a question, we may be able to see solutions that would not otherwise have occurred to us
• The importance of mental strength, self-belief and self-reliance
• Recognising that risks can be both physical or mental, but also emotional. Making oneself vulnerable by trusting others is the riskiest, but also has the greatest rewards
• The skill of assuming positive intent and seeing the good in others improves the chances that your reactions will be fair and that others will reveal their better selves
• Developing the uncommon, but revered quality known as common sense – essential to leadership and living a relatively stress-free life