42/52: Resilience, Rest & Fluids

I’ve been told I’m a resilient person. Someone who can dig deep and make it through the shitty times to enjoy the better days that eventually follow. I can bounce back. The last couple of weeks though have been really hard. Nothing life-shattering, but a real slog that was testing my own 'resilience scale'. What do you do when even little things seem insurmountable and you begin to doubt yourself?

I’m no psychologist, but I do tend to know what I need to stay positive…and the answer is nearly always rest and fluids. An early night and plenty of water. I tend to wake up with energy, perspective and a desire to bounce back. Having said that, ‘Rest & Fluids’ is the answer to nearly every calamity I know and I can probably include Covid in that list! In the past, if anyone in my team was unwell, I’d always listen carefully and then finish the conversation with “…well you take care and make sure you get plenty of rest and fluids.”

There is another thing I do though, and it's to confide in my wife. I share the struggles of the day/week/year and we talk it through. I’m not always looking for solutions but I find that by talking it through, a discussion can lift the burden and help me gain some perspective.

Finally, I like to tackle the issue head-on. This is a control thing. Whatever is stressing me the most gets the attention. If it’s a sale going badly or a colleague in a difficult situation or any one of the other complex and sometimes impossible to describe situations, I try and find the root cause and deal with it. I don’t have to control the situation, but I do find comfort in having a plan and therefore being able to influence what is happening to me.

So in summary, my version of resilience is built by making sure I don’t wear myself out, that I share my problems and that I have some control over my own destiny.

Luckily there’s a wealth of information and strategies out there for everyone to access. I jumped online today to do a bit of research and I'd recommend anyone seeking resilience strategies to google ‘The six domains of resilience' as a great place to start. Resilience is not about being the toughest person in the room but it’s definitely about you, what lens you see the world through and finding the strategies that help you to bounce back.

Then, when things inevitably become more difficult and even the little things seem insurmountable, rather than just digging deep, dig out the strategies that work for you and before you know it you’ll be bouncing back time and time again.

What strategies work best for you?

The image below has been shared from the team at Driven.