4 Ways to Gain Resilience

Resilience

Resiliency in the workplace is a skill that has been tested for many of us, more in the last few years than ever before. But what does resilience even mean? Where does resilience show up? And how do we get better at it?

What is Resilience?

The word “resilience” comes from the Latin word “resilio”, which means “bounce” or “bounce back” and refers to our ability to effectively respond to challenges while maintaining a relatively stable trajectory of physical, mental, and emotional health. It means that we have developed effective skills and coping mechanisms so that when we undoubtedly experience adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, and stress, we can adapt and recover.

Traditionally when we think about resilience we may think about how quickly we can “get up” or “push through”. We may also think about it as “mental toughness”, but the process of resilience is actually this:

Challenge. Recover. Strategize. Act.

Resilience is a process, where we first have to experience a stressor or a challenge, we have to recover & process, then strategize, and lastly act. We often skip over the recovery and strategize stages of resilience and opt for pushing through challenges without taking the necessary steps of rest and to ensure we are going in the right direction.

Why does resilience matter in the workplace?

There is a lot going on in the world and our attention is being pulled in many directions all at once. Working in a virtual world fundamentally changes how we communicate with co-workers, clients, and leadership and ultimately how well we work.

In 2020, we saw the highest amount of employee burnout as well as the lowest rates of mental and emotional health since 2001 (Gallup, 2020). When your workforce is burnt out, stressed and therefore operating at a fraction of their usual capacity, it negatively affects work outcomes and therefore your bottom line.

The businesses that not only survive, but thrive, are the businesses that recognize the importance of their people and take proactive steps to looking after their mental wellbeing. Resilience is an essential skill that we all need to grow in today's workforce.

How do we gain resilience?

We are all capable of resilience and of increasing our capability to have resilience. It is a skill just like any other, where if we practice it, we will get better at it. The key to gaining resilience is developing the necessary skills, habits, and work design on the good days, so you have the systems in place for the bad days.

While there are many things you can do to build your resilience, we find that filling these 4 “buckets” below is the most effective way of building your resilience.

Social
Humans are inherently social beings, by consciously being social and connecting with our coworkers we feel more supported and a part of a community, which helps us when those bad days come. There are multiple ways in which you can creatively stay connected with your team.
Physical
We know the positive effects of physical activity and nutrition on our body, but it has also boosts our mental health and ability to respond to stress. Designing your day so you aren't stuck at your desk for 8+ hours can be tricky, but we’ve got tools to help!
Mental
Sometimes when we have a lot going on in life it can feel like our mental bandwidth is maxed out. Meaning that we may struggle being fully present in certain moments that matter. By taking the time to give our brains a break and recover, we can help devote more bandwidth to the things that matter. (Check out our recent podcast, Episode 5, which explains how to take effective breaks)
Emotional
When we are stressed and our tanks are running near empty, this can strain us emotionally. By focusing each day on doing something that makes us feel good we can navigate the bad days a little easier and when negative emotions appear to acknowledge them and move past them.

Both recovery and re-strategizing are important steps in resilience, but as Barack Obama said, “Fear, uncertainty, and discomfort are your compasses toward growth”.