Cultivating Resilience

re·sil·ience

noun

1. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Being able to recover from setbacks, challenges, and major difficulties not only applies to your personal life but also applies to your work and career as well.

A number of people leave jobs where they’ve experienced high stress, overwhelm, and even workplace trauma. 47% of working Canadians agree that their work is the most stressful part of their day. (Source: Workplace Strategies for Mental Health: Morneau Shepell. (2017). Media Room)

Finding your own ways to recover from setbacks and tough situations can help you move forward and cultivate resilience for future challenges.

And, as a leader, resilience can help you lead and expand into new opportunities. Having personal experience in cultivating your own resiliency can also help you support the people and teams you lead.

Here are some strategies to consider if you’re interested in continuing to build your own resilience:

• Taking the time to process difficult situations

  • Before, during, and after, sitting with the emotions the situation created; feel them and consider what you learned and how you’d like to move forward, without rushing the process of moving through the emotions.

• Cultivate trust in yourself and your skills

  • Remind yourself about other challenges in the past you worked through.

  • One example - Try keeping a ‘YAY you!’ folder filled with accolades from others, accomplishments, and positive notes you can refer to when you need help reminding yourself of past achievements, successes, and challenges overcome. Practice acknowledging these for yourself.

• Add to your coping resources.

  • Find strategies that work for you to reduce your stress and other emotional or psychological issues - reading, writing, walking in nature, yoga, etc.

  • Also, try new activities that you think you might enjoy.

• Take advantage of support

  • Practice asking for help when you need it.

  • Build a support network. This could range from supportive friends and colleagues to a support group to paid professionals.

This is a curated list of recommendations from several sources. If you want to check out resources on resilience, there’s no shortage of information out there. Here are a few books to consider:

Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges by Dr. Dennis Charney

Burnout; the Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

The Untethered Soul; The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer

Having your own set of tools and strategies can be vital to your own care and growth. In a world where we say we want more balance or focus on the important things in life, I wonder if sometimes we know how to do that. I would argue that knowing how to care for yourself and your emotional wellbeing is something we were never really taught.

I encourage you to find a resource you identify with and explore what it truly means to care for and tend to your own wellbeing.

If you would like to explore what having a coach in your support system could be like, reach out and complete this contact form so we can have a conversation.

NOW is YOUR time.

Ariana