How to increase your resilience

From @goodneuroscience on Instagram:

Studies show there’s a brain circuit that controls how fast you recover from setbacks.  Each challenge you push through strengthens it, rewiring your resilience for next time.

This circuit lives in a part of your brain called the anterior midcingulate cortex. It helps you decide whether to keep going or give up when things get hard.

Think of it like a muscle.
The more you use it by sticking with hard things, the stronger it gets.

When this circuit is strong, you’re more likely to bounce back after failure.
When it’s weak, you stay stuck longer in stress, doubt and rumination.

A 2020 study called it “the tenacity hub” of the brain.
It weighs cost vs. reward and pushes you to persist when things feel uncomfortable.

This part of the brain is highly plastic.
Plasticity means it changes based on how you use it, just like building a habit.

So resilience isn’t something you’re born with.
It’s something you train, through repetition and effort over time.

The brain doesn’t just respond to what happens.
It tracks how you respond to it.
And it adjusts accordingly.

Every time you choose to keep going despite fear, boredom or frustration, you teach your brain that persistence is safe and possible.

This is why small wins matter.
Finishing something hard, even if it’s minor, tells your brain: “I can do hard things.”
Over time, this changes your default.
You shift from freezing or avoiding, to stepping in and working through.

The brain uses feedback loops.
Effort → success → reward → stronger wiring.
Repeat enough and it becomes second nature.

But the opposite is also true.
Avoidance weakens this circuit.
The less you try, the harder it becomes to start again.

For example:
A student who keeps trying after failing an exam builds confidence and resilience.
Another who avoids retaking it builds fear and doubt instead.

Resilient people aren’t fearless.
They’ve just practiced recovering.
They’ve shown their brain what survival looks like, again and again and again.

 
Studies on trauma show that even in extreme stress, recovery pathways can grow.
But it takes repetition, patience and the right support.

That’s why therapy, structured challenges and purpose-driven goals help.
They all give your brain safe chances to try, fail and rewire.

Your resilience is a living, changing system.
It’s not fixed.
It adapts with every decision you make under pressure.

If you’ve struggled to bounce back, that’s not weakness.
It’s a sign the circuit hasn’t been trained yet and that can change.

Choose one challenge today.
Start small.
Finish it.
That’s the beginning of rewiring your bounce-back system.

— from @goodneuroscience on Instagram. This is an account worth following.