Speaking about Resilience

Resilience is an essential aspect of our ability to adapt and thrive in the face of challenge and adversity. Resiliency is built from psychological, social, and physiological foundations.

In the current environment resilience is a crucial competency for both leaders and employees alike. In this post, we will explore the various facets of resilience and look at three strategies to build and enhance it.

Definition of Resilience

A simple definition of resilience is:

"The capacity to bounce back from adverse experiences, maintain equilibrium during times of stress, and adapt positively to change"

This definition of resilience can be further refined with the three foundations of resiliency.

1. Psychological resilience: Psychological resiliency is the ability to cope with stress, trauma, or adversity in a way that avoids a toll on mental health but instead promotes personal growth. The psychologically resilient individual practices self-leadership, by using positive thinking for problem-solving, and self-regulation to reframe negative experiences. This self-efficacy is the fuel for personal mastery. 

2. Social resilience: Social resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, and teams to adapt and recover from challenges. It depends on social support, community cohesion, and culture. People with strong social networks and supportive relationships are more likely to exhibit resilience in the face of adversity. Social resilience also involves the ability to form new connections and ask for help when needed. This last point is a crucial but often overlooked factor in building resilience.

3. Physiological resilience: Physiological resilience encompasses the body's ability to adapt and recover from physical stress or illness. Research indicates that physiological resilience can be improved through practices like regular exercise, adequate sleep, and a balanced diet. Importantly the combination of physiological and psychological resilience is critical, as stress can have profound effects on physical health and vice versa.

Speaker on Resilience - Andrew Bryant

As an expert on self-leadership and peak performance, I am often asked to speak about resilience or include the topic in one of my keynote speeches. My experience in coaching individuals and teams to perform under stress has highlighted, to me, the importance of the following three strategies:

1. Self-learning

Accept challenges as learning experiences, and use the information to adjust behaviors to the new situation. Adopt a growth mindset and realize that:

"There is no failure, only feedback, for improvement"

Adaptability is the key, and progress over perfection is the mantra if we are to be flexible and resilient in a rapidly changing world. In addition, each challenge we survive provided that we learn from it, prepares us for the next one and makes us stronger.

2. Socialize

Regardless of whether you are an extrovert, or introvert, building strong social connections builds social resilience for yourself and your community. Your network doesn't have to be large but it must be deep enough to both ask for and offer help.

3. Self-love

“If you don't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?

I love this quote from Ru Paul, which accurately articulates the importance of self-love and self-care. Practice self-compassion, be kind to your body with a balanced lifestyle, and relieve stress with massage, meditation, or by connecting with nature. 

Importantly recognize that whatever is happening is not about you, it's not personal, it's not about everything and it won't be permanent.

Conclusion

The secret to resilience is to build it before you need it, have logs chopped before the winter, and put gas in the tank before your journey. 

If you find yourself in an overwhelming situation, zoom out and see the bigger picture. This situation won't last forever and you have options to solve the problem. In short,

Don't PANIC!

If you require coaching to become more resilient or need a keynote speaker for your next conference or convention, then feel free to contact me.