3 Ways to Strengthen Your Resilience Muscle
“How did you know this was exactly what I needed to hear and what I need to learn how to do?”
This is what we heard after taking a deep dive into resilience at a Women ON Point leadership academy event in Denver last week for 30 top-level women from a global tech company.
We know resilience is one of the most relevant and critical issues that exist in the workplace today. But WHY?
Because, there is more change, chaos and disruption than ever before. Technology innovation moves at the speed of light, global expansion seems to happen overnight, millennials will dominate the workforce by 2025, mergers and acquisitions can feel like a total blindside and people on average change jobs 12 times during a career.
There are unexpected challenges, struggles, twists, turns and roadblocks that happen every single day, and if your resilience muscle is not in tip-top shape, then you’re not going to make it.
Building resilience doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Like any muscle, strengthening your resilience muscle requires daily exercise. If you want to be able to go the distance, withstand turbulent times and bounce back from adversity, then resilience is your key to success.
Here are 3 Ways to Strengthen Your Resilience Muscle:
1. Know Your “WHY”
Without a clearly defined passion and sense of purpose, hardships can quickly turn into insurmountable obstacles. Knowing your “why” allows you to focus on the deeper meaning behind what you do and propels you through difficult times. It’s the “eye on the prize” strategy and your “prize” needs to touch your heart, feed your soul and be bigger and more important than any daily drama.
2. Practice Self-Care
Your career is a marathon, not a sprint, and if you don’t care for yourself like an elite athlete, you’ll never make it to the finish line. Plenty of sleep, healthy food and exercise are a given, but there is more to self-care than that. Try unplugging from technology for a weekend, spending more quality time with the important people in your life, reading a book for fun, volunteering in the community or meditating. Discover what fills you up with positive energy and commit to doing more of that.
3. Bend Without Breaking
Resilience is about the ability to bend without breaking. The more you can adapt, pivot, course correct and be flexible, the better equipped you will be to manage, withstand, overcome and rise above any challenging situation. You may have four different managers in a single year, experience unprecedented growth overnight, lose your largest client or be in the middle of a myriad of personal struggles, but it’s your ability to think outside of the box, be open to new ideas and seek alternative solutions that will allow you to win out in the end.
Resilience is so much more than the buzz word of the day. It’s a strategy for long-term success. If you want to make sure you’re armed and ready to go the distance, then you need to make sure your resilience muscle is as strong as it can be.
