Acceptance
Accept what is outside your control, and focus your energy on what can be changed. For example, think about the impacts and consequences of something that has happened. Prioritise them. Make a start in developing solutions that will help stop or mitigate the impacts and begin to apply them.
Cognitive Flex
Also called mental agility – a critical skill for the future of work. Building flexibility into our thoughts – see adversity as a challenge to overcome, an opportunity to learn & grow, and something we have control over responding to, can help us work through the situation more constructively and build resilience in the process.
Perspective
Ask yourself: Will this matter in 12 months time? This can help you triage how significant this issue is in the context of the bigger picture, and enable you to decide the appropriate level of response. It’s a simple question, but it can become a powerful question for you and create a significant shift in how you deal with adversity by adding one small step to your process.
Routine
When things get difficult, having a sense of routine and structure can help you cope. Firstly, it focuses on what you can control, and secondly, it counters the chaos that you may be experiencing around you or in your own mind. Create a routine that you can stick to – it could be one to three things that bring you positivity or calm, and plan them into your week.
Boundaries
Also related to control, having boundaries helps prevent adding to the chaos or uncertainty that surrounds you. Boundaries can bring balance and are critical in the context of worklife. Think about your day/week and what breaks your resolve or your energy. Start there and build in boundaries and counter balances to alleviate the stress or anxiety.
Mastery
When we are learning and excelling at something important to us, it builds belief in ourselves and confidence. This type of motivation that mastery brings contributes to resilience. Think of your own professional or personal development. How can you work on something important to you, to get better at and excel at, and what do you need to do to start the process?
Strengths
Identify your strengths and play to them. Find ways to use them more, to develop them further, and to create more value from using them. How can you expand the application of your strengths at work? When we are using our strengths in a way that we feel some challenge and stretch, we can become more motivated and engaged, thereby building resilience.
Social Support
What social support do you need to help you cope. Whether that’s at work or at home. Think about the people and communities that build your resilience. Those who give you energy, inspire you, motivate you, encourage you, comfort you. How can you dial the volume up on your relationships with them – more frequency, more consistently, more depth, more time.
Purpose
Knowing what the purpose of your current role is, whether that’s in your team, in your company or in your career really helps connect you to something more important – a bigger picture, which gives meaning. Having meaning is a driver of resilience. Have and give clarity on what you are trying to achieve and why it is important.