When life feels difficult or throws you a curveball,
How do you react?
Do you tend to hide until the dust has settled or do you prefer to face it head on?
Personally,
My default response is to deal with it because I want to continually move forward in life.
I have learnt that the one thing that has meant I can do this is my resilience,
Especially when anybody has told me,
No,
You can't,
You shouldn't,
You're too young,
You're too old,
You're not clever enough or you'll never succeed.
It's my resilience that keeps me going.
You see,
Resilience is your capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.
I love how my daughter sees resilience.
She says,
Getting back up when somebody has knocked you down.
And you'll go through lots of stages in your life where you feel like you've been knocked down.
These are life events,
Whether it's divorce,
Redundancy,
Retirement,
The menopause,
Emptiness,
Becoming a new mum,
Starting a new business,
Just to name a few.
These experiences are something that may feel uncertain,
Unusual,
Uncomfortable or all of the above.
Working on your resilience is what will help you to navigate this new chapter in your life.
To be able to live your life the way you want it and to navigate it means building resilience.
And here are five actions that I encourage you to take so that you can proactively build resilience.
Work on your mindset.
What is going on in your mind is very,
Very powerful.
After all,
Whether you think you can or you think you can't,
You are probably right.
You see,
What you think is what you become.
So it's time to start to pay attention to what you are thinking.
If you're not already,
Become curious about that self-talk of what you are thinking.
What is your unconscious trying to tell you?
Remember,
That inner voice,
That self-talk is neither good nor bad.
It's just doing its job,
Which is trying to keep you safe,
To stop you from failing,
From making a mistake,
From looking silly.
However,
What is it actually stopping you from doing?
Step outside your comfort zone.
Stepping outside your comfort zone is bound to feel scary because what you're about to do is new.
And new means uncertainty,
Taking a risk and the possibility of failure.
However,
It's all about perspective and you have the power to change that.
You see,
The circumstance you find yourself in is neutral until you give it meaning from the words that you use.
So I encourage you to be more mindful about the words that you are using.
Try using the language that inspires and motivates you.
How about,
Stepping outside of your comfort zone is an opportunity to learn,
To grow and to be even more successful.
The more you step outside your comfort zone,
The easier it will begin to feel.
Then over time,
The steps will start to become bigger and bigger and bigger.
Take action.
Doing nothing is not an option.
If you want to build resilience,
You need to take action.
The more you do,
The more confident you will become.
Taking small actions,
Being consistent,
That's what builds resilience.
I always say to my daughter,
I'm not asking you to climb a mountain.
I'm not asking you to run a marathon.
I'm just asking you to take one small step.
Become comfortable with failing.
I know failure feels awful.
You spend all this time and effort putting something together,
Becoming something,
Only for it to fail.
Appreciating failure takes practice.
Personally,
I hate failing.
I also know that failing is a good thing.
I remember more from the times when I failed than the times when I succeeded.
The thing is,
Failing is actually success in disguise.
Failing shines a light on how you can do things better next time.
And when you learn from those moments,
You will be sure to make it even better next time.
Create a supportive network.
I will always be the first to say that you need to be your biggest cheerleader.
And having the right people around you will magnify this.
That's not to say that you have to have lots of yes people in your corner.
It's ensuring that you surround yourself with individuals who want you to succeed and are authentic and will tell you the truth.
Choose those people wisely.
They are very,
Very precious.
Consider what type of people you want in your corner and make sure they're a good mix.
Think about what you need from them and what you can give to them.
Remember,
It's about giving as much as receiving.
So I encourage you to continually work on your mindset.
Step outside your comfort zone.
Take action.
Have the courage to fail and surround yourself with awesome people.
And I would like to hear from you.
Tell me how you are building resilience or how you plan to continue to build resilience.
