Resilience drives personal readiness, and personal readiness relies on five dimensions, sometimes called pillars: Physical, Emotional, Social, Spiritual, and Family. Sustaining healthy behaviors within and across these dimensions is essential to personal readiness.
Please hover over the image to learn more about the five dimensions of personal readiness.
- Physical
Being physically resilient can provide self-confidence and abilities to lead yourself and others through tough situations in life. People who get plenty of sleep, eat nutritional foods, and exercise daily can enhance their performances. In addition, there are important connections between physical and emotional health; having a strong and durable body can translate into sharper mental power. - Spiritual
Spiritual readiness is the ability to sustain one’s self through all aspects of life, especially during times of stress, hardship, and tragedy. It involves improving one’s spiritual posture through a self-directed process, and is informed by an individual’s religious, philosophical, or human values. These core values form that individual’s sense of identity, purpose, motivation, character, and integrity. They enable one to build inner strength, make meaning of experiences, behave ethically, persevere through challenges, and be resilient when faced with adversity. - Family
Dealing with frequent moves, long deployments and major transitions requires stamina and strength. Building and maintaining healthy relationships and strengthening problem-solving skills can help your family effectively navigate the challenges of daily living experienced in the unique context of military service. It can also help to be knowledgeable about the resources available to military Families to improve quality of life, support financial readiness, and enrich family relationships. - Emotional
Our ability to notice how our emotions are either getting in our way or helping us thrive is critical to our resilience. Resilience is not being happy all the time. Emotions like anxiety, anger, or sadness can be very important in our ability to prepare, gain energy, and reach out to others. The art of resilience is being able to experience the right emotions at the right time. - Social
Our connection to other people is a critical component of remaining resilient over the course of life. Even if you just have one close relationship in your life, you are significantly more likely to be able to overcome challenges and setbacks than if you’re in it alone. Building and maintaining relationships is tough. These skills can help you learn how to get close and stay close to people you care about.