Top

Quiz: How Resilient Are You?

Quiz: How Resilient Are You?

Getty/Marcio Binow Da Silva

Can you move with the flow of life, or are you stretched so thin that you might snap? Use this quick quiz to see how well your current coping mechanisms are working.

Whether in relationships, careers, or family, we are all occasionally knocked down by rejections and setbacks. And, we all need tools to help us get back up again. This ability to rebound is our level of resilience. Resilience gives us buoyancy and elasticity to address stress, pain, or loss in our lives without snapping or breaking. Think of a rubber band, and how it snaps back into shape after it’s stretched.

Some amount of our resilience is thought to be inherited, but we can also build it up through lifestyle choices.

Answer the questions below to gauge your current level of resiliency. Keep in mind that resiliency fluctuates with life circumstances, so you may want to return to this quiz now and then to see how things are progressing.

Resilience Quiz

  1. On a scale of 1-10, how much inflammation do you feel in your body and mind, in the form of skin ailments, digestive issues, pain or swelling in the body, or volatile emotional and mental states?
    1. 1-3
    2. 4-7
    3. 8-10
  2. How long does it typically take you to calm down from a stressful situation?
    1. Minutes
    2. Hours
    3. Days
  3. Do you employ tools to recover after a stressful situation?
    1. I have an entire routine that puts me back in recovery mode in no time
    2. Sometimes I practice breathing exercises and positive self-talk
    3. Time is the only thing that helps me recover
  4. I see setbacks and failures as…
    1. Opportunities for new beginnings
    2. Inconveniences I try to muscle through
    3. Negative parts of life that hold me back
  5. In response to unexpected changes to my schedule, I…
    1. Bob and weave gracefully
    2. Respond better or worse depending on the day
    3. Get easily frustrated and overwhelmed
  6. I get the amount and quality of sleep I need…
    1. Most night—sleep is a priority
    2. Three or four nights a week
    3. Very few nights a week
  7. How many of the following foods are rotated in your diet each day: oily fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, green leafy vegetables, avocado, olives, and coconut oil?
    1. Four or more
    2. Two or three
    3. None or one
  8. How many days/week do you move your body intentionally?
    1. Four or more
    2. Two or three
    3. None or one
  9. My beliefs around stress are closest to which of the following?
    1. I actively reach out for support if I feel overstretched
    2. If someone asks, I’ll talk
    3. My stress is mine to deal with; I don’t want to burden others
  10. My normal response to a failure or setback is:
    1. Journal and/or talk to friends and family until I know the right next response
    2. Ask myself a few questions about why it happened, and then get back to life
    3. Upward and onward, at all costs

Count your answers and then use the guide below to see whether your resiliency is most like bread dough, a rubber band, or a house of tarot cards.

The Results of Your Resilience Quiz

If You Got Mostly A’s

You Are Most Like Bread Dough

When life experiences knead you, you keep stretching and expanding. Adversity to you is like yeast that helps you rise to the occasion. This is a great place to be! Just remember to avoid getting over-kneaded: Even people with great natural resiliency need rest, self-care, and healthy boundaries.

If You Got Mostly B’s

You Are Most Like a Rubber Band

When life pulls on you, you generally stretch along with it, snapping back to your regular self without too much effort. But your inner rubber band is at risk of losing its shape or even snapping if you get stretched too far or too often. Some limits must be respected and honored so that you don’t lose your purpose. Take some time to step back, reflect, and adjust as needed to keep yourself equally taut and flexible.

If You Got Mostly C’s

You Are Most Like a House of Tarot Cards

It seems that you’re working on an unstable foundation. Even adding minor additional tasks or stressors is like placing a new card on an already shaky house of cards. This is a good time to reshuffle the deck and deal yourself a new hand; your major arcana (a collection of the tarot’s most important aspects and archetypes in life) seems as though it needs some pampering.

Use these 10 techniques to build more resilience.

Quiz How Resilient Are You

Enjoying this content?

Get this article and many more delivered straight to your inbox weekly.