“A good half of the art of living is resilience.” ― Alain de Botton It’s tempting to think that resilience is a fixed personality trait, maybe even something that we are born with. But be reassured, the ability to bounce back from failure and to cope with everyday difficulties is something that can be learned and developed by anyone. Here are five top tips that can help you build your resilience. |
1. Draw on your positive past experiences.
Think of a time when you felt particularly resilient. What skills and qualities made you resilient on that occasion, and how might you draw on these again when you are next in need of them?
2. Focus on what you can influence. Rather than wasting energy worrying about matters you simply cannot influence, spend your energy on the variables that you can do something about. Next time an issue arises, ask yourself how likely is it that this issue can be resolved or progressed by my actions? If it’s less than 10% - cut your losses and move on. |
Take a moment to notice the things that boost your energy – perhaps it’s opening a window or talking to a good friend. Do you find it inspiring to display photo’s of family and friends on your desk? Think about other pictures or objects you could keep around you to remind you of the good things in your life.
4. Be Proactive. Sometimes it seems easier to procrastinate, putting off doing things that might bring conflict, rejection or criticism. Yet this comes with clear downsides, such as limiting your learning. A more fruitful option is to take on challenges and commit to dealing with the trials along the way. Being proactive involves doing something new or different – for example taking on a new project at work, revisiting a hobby or learning a language. |
A benefit of being more open to taking on new opportunities is that you can use them to practise and increase your resilience. In that mode, you see setbacks as transient. When you are an active agent, you reap the benefits of taking control of both the situation and your emotional responses.
5. Identify what’s worked.
When something goes wrong, the temptation is immediately to start analysing everything and assigning blame. But you can increase resilience by looking at how you got through it and what actually worked, as this holds the key to improving morale and doing better next time by not repeating mistakes.
‘Your “I can” is more important than your “IQ”’ Robin Sharma
For more tips, techniques and tools for building your own, your team and your organisation’s Resilience, check out our new book. Or join us on our 1-day open course: Building Resilience. Date: 29 June 2017 Time: 10am - 5pm Place: St Albans, UK |