How the Get GRIT Program Helps Students Build Emotional Resilience

The Resilient Thinking Unit within the Get GRIT Program develops students’ capacity to persevere through setbacks, manage frustration, and respond to challenges with greater optimism, flexibility, and emotional strength.

Resilient thinking is a unique term to the Get GRIT Program and is defined as a way of thinking that reduces stress, anxiety, and negativity while supporting better decision-making, persistence, and adaptive responses. It equips students with the mental skills needed to navigate adversity, everyday stressors, and the increasing complexity of the modern world.

At its core, Resilient Thinking is about helping students understand that thoughts are not facts—they are mental events that can be noticed, evaluated, and changed.

🧠 Understanding the Thought–Feeling–Behaviour Connection

A key foundation of the unit is teaching students the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviour:

• Thoughts influence emotional responses.
• Emotions influence behaviour.
• Behaviour influences outcomes and self-perception.

When students understand this connection, they begin to recognise that their internal dialogue plays a significant role in how they experience and respond to situations.

For example:

• “This is too hard” may lead to frustration and avoidance.
• “This is challenging, but I can try a different strategy” supports persistence and problem-solving.

This understanding helps students develop greater emotional awareness and self-management.

🔁 The Role of Repetition in Thinking Patterns

The brain strengthens what it repeats. Over time, repeated thoughts—particularly those linked with strong emotion—become familiar cognitive patterns.

Within the Get GRIT Program, students learn to identify:

• Stop thoughts: unhelpful or limiting thoughts that increase stress, anxiety, or avoidance.
• Go thoughts: helpful, constructive thoughts that support resilience and action.

Examples include:

• Stop thought: “I always get this wrong.”
• Go thought: “I can learn from this and improve.”

The aim is not to eliminate difficult thoughts, but to build awareness and flexibility in responding to them.

🧭 Cognitive Strategies: Catch, Check, Challenge, Change

Students are explicitly taught cognitive-behavioural strategies grounded in evidence-based practice, including:

1. Catch it – Identify the thought.
2. Check it – Consider whether the thought is accurate or helpful.
3. Challenge it – Explore alternative perspectives or interpretations.
4. Change it – Replace it with a more balanced and helpful thought.

This structured process supports students to interrupt unhelpful thinking patterns and develop more adaptive cognitive responses over time.

🧠 Thinking Traps and Perspective-Taking

Students also learn to recognise common thinking traps that can distort perception, such as overgeneralising, catastrophising, or assuming others’ thoughts.

A key component of this learning is perspective-taking—understanding that individuals may interpret the same situation differently based on their thoughts and experiences.

This builds cognitive flexibility, empathy, and more balanced decision-making.

💪 Developing Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience refers to the ability to effectively cope with both major life stressors and everyday challenges.

Through Resilient Thinking, students develop the capacity to:

• Persevere in the face of frustration.
• Bounce back from setbacks.
• Manage stress and negative thinking patterns.
• Approach challenges with curiosity and adaptability.
• Engage in more optimistic and solution-focused thinking.

These skills contribute to stronger self-regulation, improved wellbeing, and more effective learning behaviours.

🌱 Why Resilient Thinking Matters

Resilient Thinking is a foundational skill for lifelong wellbeing and success. It provides students with practical cognitive tools to manage internal dialogue, respond constructively to challenges, and make more considered choices.

In a complex and rapidly changing world, the ability to regulate thinking patterns, reframe challenges, and maintain persistence is essential.

By strengthening these skills early, students are better equipped to navigate adversity with confidence, adaptability, and emotional strength.

✨ Summary

Resilient Thinking teaches students that while they cannot always control what thoughts arise, they can develop the skills to notice, evaluate, and adjust their thinking patterns.

By strengthening this capacity, students build the foundation for greater emotional resilience, improved wellbeing, and more effective engagement with learning and life.