Singapore study shows learnable skills of resilience can help prevent burnout.

Forbes* summarized an interesting study** about burnout that was done with 97 college students in Singapore. The article is unusually concrete about things organizations and individuals can do.

They found that students who displayed five specific learnable types of resilience did better in resisting burnout and stress. The five skills are:

1. Approaching, rather than avoiding, adversity — It’s a challenge, not a threat.

2. Believing in your own abilities. “when you see yourself being a cause of your life, more optimistic and responding more positively to situations beyond your control, you can beef up your resilience.”

3. Being motivated by a sense of purpose. This leads to partnering, cooperating and teamwork, getting and giving support to colleagues

4. Having solid interpersonal and internal resources such as peer support, strong social relationships and knowledge of where to get help during challenging times.

5. Attributing a spiritual component to life’s random events to a Higher Power or fate beyond the capacity of human control. This helps people accept that ‘things happen.”

The study showed that there are things organizations can do to help their members as well as things the individuals can do or learn to help themselves and their peers.

*5 Components Of Resilience You Need To Prevent Job Burnout And Psychological Distress

**Mental resilience enhances the well-being of Singaporean college students through reducing burnout