You and Professional Athletes Might Be More Alike Than You Think

Have you ever wondered how athletes manage to stay calm just before stepping up to the service line, the free-throw line, or the penalty spot in the final moments of a game? When we watch the Olympics, the NBA Finals, the World Cup, or Wimbledon, we often get excited at how athletes and teams come back from seemingly impossible deficits to win. What allows them to stay composed and focused when the pressure is at its peak? The answer is, at least partially, resilience. But what exactly is resilience? And what do you have in common with a professional athlete in terms of cultivating resilience? In this Therapy Sketch, we’ll explore how athletes build resilience and how sports psychologists and clinicians might be using the same evidence-based techniques at times. As it turns out, the skills that help someone perform under pressure on the field or court can be quite similar to the very same skills that help us navigate the pressures of everyday life.

What is Resilience?

When we talk about resilience, we often think of it as the ability to recover from hardship and bounce back quickly. This understanding likely comes from its origins in the physical sciences, where a resilient material returns to its original shape after being stretched or compressed (Pemberton, 2015). In therapy, however, resilience is a little more nuanced. Rather than simply “bouncing back,” resilience is both a process and an outcome. It refers to successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility, as well as the ability to adjust to both internal and external demands. Resilience also plays a vital role in protecting mental health. Research suggests that it can help prevent the development of mental health conditions and is also associated with better outcomes for those experiencing psychological difficulties (Echezarraga et al., 2019). According to researchers, resilience consists of three essential components (Boniwell & Tunariu, 2019):

• Recovery: Returning to your previous level of functioning after a stressor, much like the physical definition of resilience, where something returns to its original form.
• Resistance: Experiencing little to no disruption in response to a stressor, allowing you to maintain stability despite adversity.
• Reconfiguration: Finding a new sense of balance and cultivating growth after circumstances have changed and adapting to a different, yet equally balanced, state of functioning rather than trying to return to the way things were.

Of these three components, reconfiguration stands out with its unique characteristics because it asks us to do more than simply recover and lean toward growth. It requires the courage and flexibility to let go of an old way of being, adapt to changed circumstances, and create a new sense of stability. While recovery is about returning to what was, reconfiguration is about discovering what is now possible.

There are also some qualities that resilient individuals often show, and similarly, developing these qualities can help us cultivate more resilience. They can be listed as:

• Viewing situations from different perspectives. Being able to step back and see a challenge from another angle can make it easier to find solutions or discover new ways of coping.
• Drawing on positive emotions. Positive emotions can provide strength during difficult times. They encourage thinking outside of the box and strengthen our sense of connection and belonging within a community.
• Staying physically active. Regular exercise helps reduce stress and stimulates the release of endorphins, which can improve mood and overall well-being.
• Seeking connection and social support. Being part of a supportive community allows us to lean on others during challenging times and reminds us that we do not have to face adversity alone.
• Recognizing and using personal strengths. Knowing your strengths and drawing on them during difficult moments can increase your sense of control, confidence, and ability to navigate challenges.
• Maintaining optimism about the future. An optimistic outlook helps us remember that the obstacles and setbacks life throws in one’s way are temporary and can be gotten through.

How do we build resilience?

Resilience is not necessarily something we are simply born with but more like a skill that can be developed and strengthened over time. Interestingly, people who have faced and navigated hardships may have more opportunities to develop resilience because adversity can provide experiences that make us engage coping skills and emotional flexibility.

Resilience is also closely connected to our emotional processing capacity. When people show greater emotional awareness and the ability to understand and regulate their emotions, they are often better equipped to respond to challenging situations with flexibility and resilience. In other words, being able to recognize what we are feeling and understand how those emotions influence our thoughts and behaviors can help us navigate difficult moments more effectively (Magnano, Craparo, & Paolillo, 2016).

There are various interventions and strategies used to strengthen resilience and emotional processing capacity, and these approaches may differ depending on factors such as age, individual needs, and therapeutic framework. Approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness-based therapies, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy all incorporate skills that support emotional awareness and adaptive coping, which can help us cultivate resilience.

Some interventions may include intentional discussions related to resilience, practical exercises and assignments, role plays, exposure to mild stressors in a controlled environment, and problem-solving strategies when exploring and strengthening resilience (Rao et al., 2024).

According to research (Pemberton, 2015; Duckworth, 2016; Southwick & Charney, 2018), there are also certain skills that can be learned and strengthened in order to become more resilient. These include:

• Effective communication: Expressing feelings and needs clearly and assertively while also actively listening to others. Strong communication skills help people build supportive relationships and navigate challenges more effectively.
• Improving self-awareness: Developing a better understanding of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in order to respond to stress and hardships more effectively. Self-awareness also includes recognizing when support is needed and being willing to seek it.
• Adapting effective coping strategies: Learning healthy ways to manage difficulties through positive self-talk, exercise, goal-focused actions, mindfulness, relaxation techniques, visualization, and social support.
• Developing meaning and purpose in life: Finding a sense of purpose and meaning through work, relationships, personal values, or activities that bring fulfillment and connection.
• Problem-solving: Building the ability to identify, analyze, and break down problems, consider possible solutions, and apply effective strategies to overcome challenges.
• Goal-setting: Creating clear, realistic, and achievable goals and taking steps toward reaching them. The process of working toward goals can create a sense of accomplishment, strengthen confidence, and contribute to greater resilience.

Building resilience can look different at different ages

When it comes to helping children build resilience and emotional intelligence, they need a few important foundations:

• External resources that provide safety and security, allowing them to develop trust in others and the ability to form meaningful connections.
• Personal attitudes, feelings, and beliefs such as confidence, autonomy, and a sense of self-mastery, which help them recover and adapt when they face hardships.
• Social and interpersonal skills that help them communicate, connect, and navigate relationships with others.

As children grow into adolescents, these foundations begin to take a different shape. They become more focused on:

• developing a sense of identity
• understanding who they are
• preparing for adulthood with hopes and expectations for the future.

For adults, these skills continue to evolve and mature alongside the individual. They may appear as:

• A sense of internal control,
• Self-esteem,
• Optimism,
• Effective coping strategies,
• The ability to seek and accept emotional and social support.

It is important to remember that resilience does not look the same for everyone. Each person has a unique history, personality, and set of experiences, as well as developmental needs, and these differences should be considered when choosing an approach to building resilience.  

Similarities between resilience in athletes and non-athletes

Most of the time, athletes face high levels of stress and pressure with very little time to recover in between. To become better at handling these challenges, they need to develop resilience. For this reason, sports psychologists and mental coaches use techniques such as:

• Self-distancing: Talking to yourself in the third person or approaching your own situation the way you would advise a teammate. This creates emotional distance and can help you think more clearly and respond more effectively.
• Visualization under pressure: Instead of only visualizing perfect outcomes, athletes practice imagining the challenges they may face. This helps train the mind to remain calm, focused, and prepared when things do not go as planned.
• If-then planning: Creating clear plans for specific situations by preparing automatic responses in advance. This helps the brain make decisions more efficiently and reduces mental strain during high-pressure moments.
• Cognitive reappraisal: Learning to reshape intense emotions and view them in a more useful way. For example, an athlete may reinterpret nervousness before a big game as excitement or energy that can enhance performance.
• Stress inoculation: Training the brain to tolerate pressure by gradually exposing oneself to increasingly challenging situations and simulating high-pressure environments.

Although these interventions are often discussed in the context of athletes, many of us already use similar techniques in everyday life. We may use visualization when preparing for an oral exam, a presentation at work, or a job interview. We may practice self-distancing when trying to build confidence before taking on something challenging. The situations may look different from person to person, but stress is a universal part of being human. Resilience is what helps us meet those moments with greater flexibility and potential for empowerment and growth.

Takeaways

• Resilience is an essential part of mental health. It helps us navigate adversity, cope with challenges, and continue moving forward when life becomes difficult.
• Resilience is a skill that can be learned and strengthened. Many therapeutic approaches focus on developing resilience through skills such as improving self-awareness, effective communication, goal-setting, developing healthy coping strategies, problem-solving, and creating a sense of meaning and purpose in life.
• Building resilience looks different across life stages. Children develop it through safety, connection, confidence, and social skills; adolescents through identity and future goals; and adults through self-esteem, optimism, coping strategies, and support systems. Since everyone’s experiences are unique, resilience-building approaches should be tailored to the individual.
• The tools used to build resilience are not limited to athletes. Many of the same techniques used in sports psychology can also support us in everyday life, including cognitive reappraisal, self-distancing, and visualization under pressure.

References

• American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Resilience. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved July 28, 2026, from https://dictionary.apa.org/resilience 
• Boniwell, I., & Tunariu, A. D. (2019). Positive psychology: Theory, research and applications. Open University Press. 
• Echezarraga A, Las Hayas C, López de Arroyabe E, Jones SH. Resilience and recovery in the context of psychological disorders. J Humanist Psychol. 2019 doi: 10.1177/0022167819851623 
• Magnano P, Craparo G, Paolillo A. Resilience and emotional intelligence: Which role in achievement motivation. Int J Psychol Res. 2016;9:9–20 
• Pemberton, C. (2015). Resilience: A practical guide for coaches. Open University Press. 
• Rao GP, Koneru A, Nebhineni N, Mishra KK. Developing resilience and harnessing emotional intelligence. Indian J Psychiatry. 2024 Jan;66(Suppl 2):S255-S261. doi: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_601_23. Epub 2024 Jan 24. PMID: 38445274; PMCID: PMC10911335.
• Sutton J, What Is Resilience & Why Is It Important to Bounce Back? Positive Psychology, 2019 Jan, https://positivepsychology.com/what-is-resilience/ 
• The Mental Game Clinic, Life Skills for Athletes: Building Mental Resilience for Success On and Off the Field https://thementalgame.me/blog/life-skills-for-athletes-building-mental-resilience-for-success-on-and-off-the-field 

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