"Resourcefulness underlies resilience. The more ways you know how to get things done, the more options you have when your usual approach hits a wall. The more ways you've solved problems before, the less daunting new problems feel. Yet many people never target resourcefulness as a skill they can build. They stick to a narrow playbook of how they get things done, and don't consider venturing beyond that."
"1. Vary the Way You Do Things Many of us have strong defaults, e.g., you buy everything on Amazon. Try venturing outside those defaults. It could be as simple as buying something from eBay, a thrift store, or Facebook Marketplace. The more different options feel within your wheelhouse, the more resourceful you become. Plus, you never know when you'll discover something unexpected by going outside your usual routine. For example, you discover a new favorite lunch spot next to the thrift store."
"Lots of people have hidden pockets of knowledge: the things they know how to do that are unusual. Your friend's husband is an expert at buying used cars. Your cousin who goes on exotic vacations knows how to use their airline miles for business class flights. The receptionist at your gym knows how to get a stain out of anything. Without being a burden, aim to tap into the micro skills the people around you are happy to share and show off."
Resourcefulness underlies resilience by increasing the number of ways to accomplish goals and reducing the intimidation of new problems. People who limit themselves to a narrow playbook lose options when routines fail. Building resourcefulness expands practical and social problem-solving tools through deliberate habits: varying routines to discover alternative options, asking questions beyond one's immediate circle, learning specific micro-skills others possess, and observing how different people improvise solutions. Small experiments—buying from different marketplaces, tapping acquaintances' niche expertise, and noticing others' MacGyver-like fixes—accumulate into a broader repertoire that increases confidence and security when facing obstacles.
Read at Psychology Today
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