How Can Resilience Help You?

Resilience seems to be a buzz word. We know that having resilience is important to not being stressed, but what is resilience?

Having greater resilience enhances your ability to maintain your composure and be in charge of how you respond.

You can think of resilience as your inner battery - how much capacity you have for energy, how much energy you can hold. The energy that you have available to handle challenge…before, during, and after a challenge.

The “after a challenge” is typically what people think of when they think about resilience. That ability to bounce back after a challenge. When you are resilient, you are better able to bounce back to your “normal self” after a challenge. This challenge can be big (like getting news that you have lost your job) or small (like the water in the sink for washing dishes got cold).

That’s one aspect of resilience.

Another aspect is “before a challenge”. When you are more resilient, and you have more charge in your inner battery, you are better prepared to handle challenge. Think about planning a 5-hour road trip. It is going to take energy (fuel) to get there. An intelligent step in this trip plan is to fuel the car (“charge it up”, so to speak- or literally speaking if it is an electric car!) before you go. This way you have a fair chance of having enough energy to make it to your destination. When you know that there is a challenge coming up - a job interview, a work meeting, a deadline, a family get-together, a major decision, a difficult conversation - an intelligent step in handling this challenge is to charge up your inner battery. One way to do that is to choose to have less depleting emotions and attitudes (that drain your inner battery energy) and more renewing emotions and attitudes (that refresh your inner battery energy), about the challenge specifically AND about life in general!

Another aspect of resilience is “during a challenge”. Let’s say that you thought a meeting was going to go well, and it did start off well. But then Sally did that thing that she always does, and now you’re upset, maybe some of the others are too, and the meeting has fallen off the rails. The more resilient you are, the better able you are to roll with it and get yourself composed again. Maybe even get the meeting back on track!

Like I said, having more resilience helps you be in charge of how you respond. Right now, think about a situation or person that usually irritates you or frustrates you. Got one?

How do you respond to that situation or person when your inner battery is drained? Maybe you are more irritable and impatient. Maybe things get under your skin more easily, or maybe you possibly withdraw from the person or situation. Maybe you say things you really don’t mean, or do things you later regret.

Now think about the same situation or person that irritates you or frustrates you. How do you respond to that situation or person when your inner battery is charged? Maybe with more patience, understanding, and compassion for the other person or yourself. Maybe it doesn’t even really bother you.

I can probably guess which outcome you would rather experience. Us humans have an innate desire to strive to be the best versions of ourselves. I’m guessing that deep inside, you would rather respond to life with more patience and compassion. This is more harmonious. The harmony can be experienced inside you and it feels good, and it can be experienced outside you and there is more social collaboration and effectiveness.

Having more resilience, then, not only helps you to not be stressed but it helps you be a better version of yourself. Being more resilient allows you to have more energy, make wiser decisions, stay composed, and be more present and aware. It allows you to tap into your creativity and intuition so you can find solutions to problems, know what to say in difficult and awkward situations, and find ways to connect and collaborate with others.

If having more resilience is something that appeals to you, let’s work together! Schedule a complementary chat with me, here.

I can’t wait to see what having more resilience can do for you!

Here’s to conquering stress.

With heart,

Louise

The Stress Experts