How can I reframe challenges to build resilience?

Ask yourself, ‘What can this teach me?’ Shifting your mindset from ‘Why me?’ to ‘What now?’ helps you find opportunity and strength in difficulty.

How do I stay focused under pressure?

Direct your energy towards what you can control — your actions, habits and responses — rather than external outcomes. This builds calm and confidence.

What role does self-compassion play in resilience?

Self-compassion helps you recover faster from setbacks. Speak to yourself like a trusted friend — kindness fuels strength more than criticism ever can.

How can affirmations improve my mindset?

Repeating positive statements such as ‘I am capable’ or ‘I’ve handled hard things before’ reinforces calm and self-belief, especially during stress.

Why is purpose important for resilience?

A clear sense of purpose anchors you during uncertainty. When you know what matters most, setbacks feel more manageable and less personal.

Military Mindset

How to Lead with a Resilient Mindset: Mission 5/10

Sam Kinsey-Briggs

Oct 8

3 min read

5

20

0

Collage of stressed soldiers, meditation, snacks, and a stopwatch. Text: "Mission 5 Stay Strong Under Pressure—Your Stress and Resilience Strategy." — Manage stress and enhance resilience

Mission 5: Lead with Resilience – Mindset Command

Welcome to Mission 5 of the Mental Fitness Battlebox series from ACSIS Life Coaching. So far, we’ve explored movement, nutrition, rest, and connection. Today, we arrive at the core of it all: the resilient mindset.

When life feels overwhelming, mindset becomes your inner commander. It guides how you respond to uncertainty, pain, and pressure.

And while challenges are inevitable, how you frame them is a choice and a powerful one.

What Is a Resilient Mindset?

A resilient mindset is the ability to adapt, stay grounded, and move forward despite setbacks. It doesn't mean ignoring hard things. It means meeting them with emotional strength and flexibility.

The American Psychological Association (2023) notes that resilience can be learned and strengthened. Key tools include reframing, emotional regulation, and self-compassion.

Core Traits of a Resilient Mindset:

Adaptability

Responding to change with curiosity, not fear

Emotional Regulation

Staying grounded when emotions run high

Optimism

Holding hope without denying reality

Self-Belief

Trusting your capacity to endure and lead

A Personal Mission: Sam’s Afghanistan Tour, 2009

For Sam Kinsey-Briggs, co-founder of ACSIS Life Coaching, resilience was put to the ultimate test during her operational tour in Afghanistan in 2009.

It was a perilous time for British service personnel. From January to June 2009, 79 British Armed Forces personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan. During Sam’s deployment from June to December 2009, a further 89 personnel made the ultimate sacrifice. These brave men and women, along with all 456 British personnel who died throughout the Afghanistan campaign, deserve our deepest respect and gratitude.

Their sacrifice, alongside that of international partners, will never be forgotten.

Amid the operational dangers of Kabul and beyond, Sam faced personal and physical challenges that compounded the intensity of her experience:

An Unknown Illness: Sam battled debilitating symptoms later diagnosed as Q fever, an infectious disease contracted during her deployment.
Personal Heartbreak: Her partner at the time left her during the tour, forcing her to navigate the emotional toll of a breakup while remaining operationally focused.

Reflecting on that time, Sam shares:

"I didn’t know what resilience truly meant until I was in Afghanistan. It wasn’t just the danger outside the wire—it was the battles within. I learned to compartmentalize my pain, focus on my mission, and trust that I could endure. Looking back, I realize that my mindset carried me through, even when I felt I had nothing left."

This experience shaped Sam’s understanding of resilience as not just surviving adversity but learning to thrive despite it.

How to Build a Resilient Mindset

Here are practical strategies to cultivate a mindset that holds steady in hard times:

Reframe Your Challenge

Ask yourself: What can this teach me? Shifting from "Why me?" to "What now?" opens space for growth.

Focus Where You Have Control

Energy is precious. Use it where you can make a difference in your actions, your habits, your perspective.

Practice Self-Compassion

Speak to yourself like you would to a friend. Harshness doesn’t build strength. Kindness does.

Use Daily Affirmations

Affirm what you want to believe, even if it feels out of reach. “I am capable.” “I’ve handled hard things before.”

Anchor to Purpose

Remind yourself of what matters most. Purpose steadies you when things feel uncertain.

Resilience in Action

A resilient mindset is not built overnight. It requires reflection, persistence, and the courage to face your challenges head-on. At ACSIS Life Coaching, we believe resilience is the foundation for thriving, not just surviving. This philosophy is aligned with the principles of the Resilience Agenda, which emphasises mindset as a core component of mental fitness.

You don’t have to be fearless. You just need to lead from within.