The past few years have been challenging for everyone. But one of the significant positives to come out of this unprecedented bag of crises is that most of us, whether consciously or not, have really upped our resilience game. Being faced with one giant concern after another has left us with no choice but to learn how to adapt, shift our perspectives, and keep pushing on.
The subject of resilience—what it is and how you build it—forms a significant part of Evolve’s advisory and team development programmes, and our dedicated workbook on the subject gives you and your team the framework to be effective in response to change and provides you with the tools to adapt to those changes.
What behaviours build resilience?
- Trusting others
- Self-belief
- Optimism
- Effective communication
- Giving and receiving praise/recognition
- Asking for help
What behaviours create more problems/stress?
- Anger
- Denial
- Avoidance
- Blame
- Not asking for help
- Self-delusion
- Self-doubt
Taking the above into consideration, here are our top five tips for building resilience:
1. Maintain current relationships and create new ones
Having a support base of people who know and understand you not only enables you to voice your concerns and receive feedback, it also gives you the opportunity to advise and support those same people who are helping you. It’s also worth exploring interactions with people that aren’t necessarily tied to your sector and/or usual circle of friends. You could do this by joining a social group or club that is focused on a subject you’re interested in outside of work. This way, you’ll receive new perspectives on what’s going on in the world and hopefully find novel ways of dealing with specific problems.
2. Shift your perspective
While you have no control over exterior events, you certainly have the power to decide how you perceive and react to them. Stoic philosophy, in particular, extols this way of thinking, so read up on it if you’re so inclined. Learning how to be more present is also helpful in stopping you from projecting your fears into the future. Also remind yourself from time to time that there are always people in worse situations than you.
3. Take action
Instead of denying that a problem exists, or hoping it will go away on its own, take decisive steps towards solving it. Even if you don’t completely overcome the obstacle in your way, simply having taken action will help you learn new things about yourself and give you the tools to deal with the next setback.
4. Use challenges as an opportunity for self-development
The most important lessons we learn about ourselves and our abilities usually come from times of discomfort. Anyone who has dealt with injury, sickness, loss or tragedy will attest to coming out the other side of it a more rounded human being. Facing hardship and overcoming it shifts your view of the world and yourself—they help you realise you’re much tougher and have more emotional resources than you thought.
5. Look after your mental and physical wellbeing
Hard times can easily make you feel too worried or stressed to enjoy the things you know are good for you, like getting outside, exercising and eating well. While trying to come up for solutions to whatever challenge you’re facing, there’s a danger that you might slump into bad habits and neglect your general wellbeing. This is a big mistake. It’s during times of increased stress that you should be paying particular attention to keeping your mind and body healthy. Eating well keeps you energised and helps you think more clearly, while any exercise, even a light walk, gives you an endorphin boost and beats those nasty stress chemicals into submission.
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