Resilience is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties” and “the ability of an object to spring back into shape”. Resilience is not just a word to describe objects, it can be used to describe people too.
Boosting resilience is one of the most common focus points of my coaching sessions. Women come to me because they want to be more resilient in the workplace so they can step up into a bigger playing field and advance their careers. The more resilient you are, the more successful you can be in work and in life.
Resilience in women in business means bouncing back and applying patience and tenacity to achieve personal and professional goals. It is a trait which we all have. There are three traits that resilient people share, according to Diane Couto. The first is a strong acceptance of reality, the second is a belief that life is meaningful and the third is the ability to improvise!
Many people mistake resilience as immunity. They believe it means that a person has not experience difficulty in their life. In fact, it’s the opposite. To be resilient, you need to have faced difficult times.
Persistence is key to resilience. Giving up is the only true failure so the first step to resilience is learning and adapting when things go wrong. It might mean changing your approach or finding a totally new approach. It might mean going back to the drawing board. But don’t give up.
Mindset and resilience are also fundamentally linked. Do you find yourself thinking things like … “I’m a failure”, “I’m not good enough” and “I’m rubbish at that”? If you spend your time berating yourself and putting yourself down, then your mind is going to start to believe it. Try instead to start being kind to yourself. If something goes well, tell yourself “well done” and if something goes awry, tell yourself “I will do better next time”. The good thing is mindsets can change!
Comfort zones are nice. They keep us safe. They are a place where we have a sense of being in control and in which everything is familiar. Yet if we want to grow and experience our lives to the full, then it’s essential that we go beyond what is comfortable, every once in a while, to seek out experiences that make us feel alive. These experiences challenge us and challenges are great for building resilience. Show yourself what you can do!
Many studies show that the primary factor in resilience is having caring and supportive relationships within and outside of family. So if you’re wanting to build your inner resilience, spend time networking with the right people; the people who will energise, advise and stretch you. A mentor or coach can provide a sounding board, support, guidance and help you to identify your strengths and areas for growth which you may not see yourself.