We all know people who seem to be able to cope better with life and all its stresses than us. To top it all these people are usually also fitter and healthier than most of us.

American researcher Suzanne Kobasa and her colleagues studied these so-called “hardy” personalities and came up with the following results.

Hardy personalities exhibit the following characteristics:

    • Commitment – the hardy person believes in the truth, importance and interest of who he or she is and what he or she is doing. Hardy people have a strong commitment to self, work, family and other values and are often role models for their children and their community.
    • Control – a hardy person believes that he or she has the power to influence the course of events in his or her life, even unpleasant events, and accepts personal responsibility for both the failures and successes in his or her life.
    • Challenge – hardy people see change in their lives as a challenge, not a threat. Change is seen as an incentive for further growth and is responded to by accepting the unexpected, exploring the environment and discovering which resources to approach and use when needed.

The good news is that we too can become hardy personalities and that we can teach our children how to develop hardy personalities. All it takes is a paradigm shift in our thinking methods. We must understand that life and the changes and stress associated with it must be managed, not by avoiding it but by bolstering our response to it.

We too can become hardy by making a definite decision to be more committed, to take control and responsibility for our own lives and by fairly and squarely facing the changes and challenges that life brings.

Such a resolve may be easier for some people than others. If you struggle to achieve this, feel free to call your EAP at any time