How are you staying resilient?
Here we are in 2021. We looked forward to 2020 being behind us, yet, as we wake up every day and get ready to lean into our workday, many of us have discovered that not much has changed from 2020. School schedules are still uncertain, vaccinations are here but most of has have no idea when we will have access, and we continue to work and entertain alone far from friends and colleagues.
Resiliency is a capability that can be given added attention during this continued difficult times. Resilient people understand, adjust, and persevere to get back on track quickly when faced with difficulty or unfamiliar circumstances.
Resiliency is about bouncing back after being knocked down and being able to find workable solutions in new or uncertain situations. People who demonstrate high resiliency:
Remain calm in high stress situations,
Act based on what they know rather than what they worry might happen,
Leverage resources within their network for ideas and support,
Know that adversity will occur and have generated ideas for adverse impacts in advance,
Find ways to celebrate perseverance and novel solutions in themselves or others.
Two years ago, a church member was widowed way before her time. Her 50-year-old husband contracted an aggressive form of cancer and died four months later. He left behind three children, aged 17, 13, and 10. She approached a few months after his death and asked if we would make a memory quilt for her son who would be graduating from high school. The father was a HUGE t-shirt wearer we soon discovered. She selected some of his favorite t-shirts and six of us got to work one sunny but cold February day and created a beautiful quilt that will forever preserve John’s memory. Being the highly competent (and somewhat bored) women that we were, we decided to make the other two children quilts as well. It was fun work, always accompanied by great food. It was a time to connect, sharing highs and lows, and our talents with this lovely mother who was figuring out a way to create a new normal for her family. She showed such resilience each time she dug into John’s closet and sorted through his t-shirts, each one captured family memories that are now fading into the past.
That was two years ago. We miss each other. We miss seeing each other at church. We miss sharing well-cooked meals and we miss oohing and ahhing over each other’s fabric creations. Yet, we’ve stayed connected and we’ve become resilient in new ways. One, our true artist, embarked on a nine-month, weekly multi-media art class with artists from across the world. Two others made masks… like crazy! Last count over 150. We’ve kept current with members of our church family and our extended families through somewhat regular zoom calls. We’ve built resiliency by knowing that connecting, in any format, matters.
Staying connected to others is key to developing resiliency. While we can’t touch and hold and kiss one another, we can take time for a quick “I’m thinking about your call.” Or a greeting card that says you matter. Resiliency matters in our workplace, now more than ever. Interested in developing stronger resiliency?
Surround yourself with optimistic people. Tap into your “glass half full” colleagues. How are they navigating the current situation? What’s working for them? Adam Grant calls these people “givers”, they support, encourage and enable others. Givers do this not to receive something in return, but because it makes sense for everyone. Avoid frequently accessing the news. Check in daily, but not hourly. Find an optimistic podcast or “good stories” columns on the internet. Discuss moments of gratitude at the dinner table each night.
Reflect on the past. We’ve all experienced adversity, and indeed thrived because of it. When did you feel the same way? How did you navigate through that situation? What strategies did you deploy during the 2008 financial crisis? Query others to learn how they navigated past difficulties. Write down what you learned and are doing differently because of it. Keep the list close at hand to remind yourself of your capabilities (and successes).
Think about possibilities and opportunities during uncertain times. What are you learning from this time of uncertainty? What are others doing to thrive? What new capabilities or processes are being put in place to manage productivity? What solutions are your children’s schools deploying that could be leveraged by the broader workplace? Its been said that necessity is the mother of invention. Be curious. Seek out others who are creative and find new ways of doing things. Test out your ideas out on others. What has merit? Engage them in supporting the possibilities you identify.
We can all be resilient and resourceful during uncertain times. What are you doing to be resilient? Please share your thoughts below.