One of the most consistent and powerful findings from all the research into resiliency is the central importance of attitude and personal belief.
It appears that the more internally directed and self-motivated you are then the more likely you are to thrive in conditions of constant externally driven change.
Or to put it more bluntly, “If you think you can or you think you can’t, then you are probably right.”
Here are 8 principles to consider and reflect on when it comes to thinking about resiliency:
1. Whenever something happens that takes us by surprise, be that a positive or negative disruptive change, the eventual outcome is that you will likely never be the same again. Either you will emerge stronger or weaker, better or bitter. It is within you to determine which way it will be for you. (For more on this in terms of a personal example see here and the post What Are The Ingredients For Lasting Success In Your Life And Career?)
2. As you grapple and struggle with that unexpected change, your mind and your habits will create either barriers or bridges to a better future. The key is how you choose to think about what has happened.
3. The more I blame others for how bad things are the more I am kept in a non-resilient victim state in which I am unable to take actions that could increase my level of resiliency.
4. The more I can accept that life is not fair, the more I am able to take personal responsibility for finding a way to overcome the adversity. As I struggle to bounce back and recover from setbacks I have the potential to develop skills and abilities I did not know I was capable of. Choosing how I respond to an event leads to better resilience than reacting to that event and then blaming the event for causing my reaction.
5. Developing resiliency skills that are unique to you will come from intentional learning. As someone has said, the solutions to the significant problems we face lie outside our comfort zone. Thye lie at a different level of thinking. The more motivated I am in wanting to be more resilient the more empowered do I become to learn resiliency skills.
6. The more I understand and know myself, the more I am able to enhance my resiliency skills. This is because your way of being resilient must be your own self-created unique version. I increase my self-knowledge by increasing my self-awareness, self-observation, experimenting and being open to feedback of all kinds and from all sorts of people.
7. The ability to be self-aware and observe yourself is where you can develop conscious choices about how you will interact with the world you live in. A simple shift from thinking “I have to….” to “I choose to…” can eventually lead to feelings of freedom, independence and being more in control of your life.
8. The more resilient you become then the more effectively you are able to handle disruptive change, adversities and major setbacks faster and easier. In other words resiliency is like a muscle that can grow and develop with practice.
Two short videos that illustrate team and personal resiliency are The Impossible Football Club and the example of Nick Vujicic who was born with no arms and no legs.
For an introduction to resiliency see our previous post here.
How much do these 8 principles resonate with you?
