How to Build Resiliency in Your Life

Resiliency means having the power or ability to return to the original form or position after being bent out of shape. It is about building in buoyancy in your life and work. The key criteria in learning to build this skill is being able to deeply listen to yourself and to nurture a positive view of yourself. When you start with yourself, you then can extend that to your work, relationships and any other area of your life.

How to build resiliency starts with a few key ideas.

• Treat Challenges as a Learning Opportunity: Don’t turn into Debbie Downer every time a challenge occurs. Take a step back and ask, “What is this teaching me?”
• Avoid Making a Drama Out of a Crisis: When you start gossiping and being judgmental, you are creating drama. It doesn’t just hurt the other person; it is a reflection of you and how you feel about yourself. That is never favorable in building your brand at work or positive connections that support your career goals.
• Have Fun & Celebrate Your Successes: Celebrate even the small ones. If your work or family doesn’t acknowledge you, don’t complain about it, do something that gives you energy instead. Others can’t celebrate you if you are not celebrating yourself first.
• Cultivate Social Support and Connections: Take time to reach out to friends, build your professional network and meet up with new connections. This can only support you in the long haul of building your career and business.

I have clients that come to me and want to know how to land a job quickly. For some that have an active network and positive mind set, they land a job in under 3 months. Others take longer if they have not cultivated their relationships and built in resiliency into their mindset. This applies as well to individuals that want to create a career path inside their current organization or are running their own business.

We are happier and more creative when we build practices into our life that support us in staying resilient.

You can’t escape challenges in your life, but we can choose how to look at them and how you want to respond. By practicing repeatedly to take a pause, stepping back, regaining balance and then taking action, this supports you in stopping outside distraction, building internal focus and resiliency. It is like being the buddha in the center of Las Vegas – strong, balanced, and clearly focused on the path you want to create.