27 Apr 2023
Resilience helps us manage life’s knocks and setbacks. Those of us who learn to develop resilience find we manage our emotions so much better, and we’re able to come out of situations less bruised than others.
Resilience is a key attribute in today’s workplace.
Fortunately, we can develop our ability to handle change. Exposure to challenge can leave us bruised and stressed. Practice in how best to respond to new situations will give us a blueprint for how to deal with any future problem.
There is a big difference between Resilience and Resistance. Resistance (our pushing back against life) will have a negative effect on our ability to be resilient.
Resistance refuses to accept ‘flow’. Resistance wrestles with changes, but the more we resist what comes at us, the less we manage it. In fact, our pushing against our problems to keep them at bay just keeps them locked in.
It is when we learn to ‘go with the flow’, drop the emotion and stop the struggle that we can start to look at options, based on any previous experience and our problem-solving strengths.
Resilience comes from responding to circumstance with thoughtful processes, rather than automatic reactions. When we let our subconscious rule our reactions we give up our ability to control the situation.
Responding is a considered, thought based practice which allows us to weigh up our options and take the right road.
There are a number of things that will help us engage in responding and consciously choosing to take charge of our decision-making.
- It is important that we have a good sense of self belief in our ability to come through challenges. Friends and family can help us build confidence in our strengths so that we come to reply on them in times of difficulty
- Once we take the emotion out of our responses to problems, we begin to stop blaming others and take back responsibility for finding our own way through
- Emotion is a killer in enhanced thinking. Emotion will scupper your best intentions every time. X out the emotion and you start to see more clearly. Your mind can’t function when it’s fuzzy with feelings. So get clear. Clarity will help you hone those options
- When we stop expecting others to ‘sort it’ for us, we come to be self-reliant. We expect to find answers and start looking at ways to move through the problem
- Create a plan for how you’ll respond to the next challenge you come up against. What is your default in times of stress? Would a different approach work better next time? Draft out a plan so you have a personal pre-established way of working through whatever you feel up against
- Practice the 6S sequence anytime you feel up against it. Stop, Stillness, Silence, Space, Support and Self Care. Give yourself space to think and remove yourself from the situation – preferably to someone still and quiet. Turn to friends and loved ones to bolster any wibble you may have and remember to take care of yourself. You can’t function well if your mind, body and spirit is compromised
- Learn to embrace whatever quiet activity that appeals to you (music, walks, reading, meditation etc). It is in the quiet that you can come to connect with your higher self that knows what’s right for you.
Resistance is just a fancy word for handling stuff with least fallout.
We all have it in us to withstand life’s knocks and bounce back. Do whatever seems comfortable to manage what comes at you.
It will have a lasting effect on your future health and wellbeing.
Love and light,
Geraldine
Come and join my Building Resilience workshop at the 2023 Summer NAEO Conference at The Kia Oval, London. Book your place through www.thenaeo.org website.
Download Your Personal Reaction Plan for when things go pear-shaped at https://www.geraldinejozefiak.com/personal-reaction-plan