Develop resilience by: 1) Viewing every Challenge as an opportunity, 2) Exercising Control over your reactions and responses by creating space between stimulus and response, and 3) Maintaining Commitment to your personal growth and development, interpreting experiences in an empowering way.
When facing challenges, practice: 1) Awareness of what is happening, 2) Acceptance of the situation (even if you don’t like it), 3) Action (compassionate action), and 4) Assessment to learn lessons and improve future responses.
Strengthen your inner “power plant” by cultivating and balancing the five spiritual powers: Faith (or trust), Diligence (or effort), Mindfulness, Concentration, and Wisdom. These qualities provide access to greater presence, persistence, focus, and understanding.
Regularly reflect on impermanence and the inevitability of death. This practice helps you accept life’s natural cycles, be fully present with loved ones, and live without regret, fostering a sense of freedom and ease by making peace with “what is.”
Feel and acknowledge pain, but choose to interpret events in an empowering and inspiring way, focusing on positive impact and bringing love, holiness, and compassion to any situation to transform it.
Love yourself and see yourself in others to foster compassion. Recognize that heinous acts often stem from fear, and everyone has the capacity for both “fear wolf” and “love wolf”; choose to feed the love wolf by directing attention to kindness and generosity.
Engage in service to others to shift focus away from personal troubles. This practice, learned in 12-step recovery, helps one “find yourself” and naturally brings back what you give, such as love and kindness.
Actively cultivate a network of relationships and community (Sangha) to provide social support. Don’t try to face adversity alone; seek guidance from living mentors, historical figures, and engage in “suitable conversation” with friends to apply teachings and investigate experiences.
Recognize that all habits of mind are trainable. Engage in spiritual practice or self-introspection to observe and evaluate your habit patterns, identifying what works and what doesn’t, then consciously choose to transform your mind to be more present, loving, and focused on alleviating suffering.
Extend meditation beyond formal sitting; practice mindfulness from waking to sleeping by regularly checking in with your mind, asking “What am I doing? How’s my mind? Am I here?” to stay present and focused.
When engaging in any activity, apply “right effort” which is an enthusiastic, steady, continuous, and balanced application of energy, avoiding both forceful exertion and laxity, to achieve desired results.
Seek to understand fundamental principles and your own nature, recognizing you are “wired for success, altruism, freedom of choice, compassion, love,” as well as fear and doubt. This wisdom helps you leverage your strengths and manage your challenges.
Consciously direct your attention to what you are paying attention to. Cultivate “appropriate attention” which keeps you in the present moment, focused on your current activity, and aware of whether your actions are skillful or unskillful.
Use mindfulness to balance the five spiritual powers (faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom). For example, balance faith with insight to avoid being Pollyannaish or cynical, and balance effort with poise to avoid being forceful or sluggish. Complement this with practices like sitting meditation and loving-kindness.
Cultivate a relaxed receptivity to observe your immediate experience without grasping or aversion. Use this self-observance to gather immediate feedback, adapt your actions, and make necessary changes to stay on track and perform effectively.
Develop equanimity, a state of neutrality with purpose, where you observe pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral experiences without being swayed by craving or aversion. This involves understanding what’s happening without indifference.
Forgive yourself for past regrets, understanding that “when you know better, you do better.” Recognize that clinging to the past prevents new beginnings; instead, embrace change and actively create something better in the present.
Recognize that “I and the other are one.” See others as human beings, just like yourself, beyond labels. Understand that if others suffer, you suffer, fostering compassion and helping overcome the illusion of separateness.
Regularly examine your thoughts, words, and behavior to ensure they align with who you aspire to be. When discrepancies arise, actively work to change them, as an examined life is essential for growth and authenticity.
Actively seek and embrace joy in the present moment, fostering fun, interconnectedness, and a joyful approach to life, guided by the motto “joy now or never.”