“Fall down seven times, get up eight.”
That’s a translation of the famous Japanese proverb: “Nana korobi, ya oki.” It hammers home the value of resilience in helping you excel personally and professionally, especially when times are bad.
In today’s demanding workplace, bouncing back from many setbacks can be difficult. Being overlooked for a promotion, dealing with difficult managers, or receiving unexpected feedback often can make it hard to stay productive, happy, and healthy. Add the pandemic stress to the mix, and you will find it more challenging to remain focused at work. That is where your level of resiliency will be truly tested.
How resilient are you?
It’s essential to understand precisely what makes a person resilient. Some attributes of resilient people include being optimistic, adaptable, confident, and community-minded. They also have self-awareness, a firm grasp of their meaning and purpose in life, and personal mastery of things that matter to them.
Some people are born with the several traits mentioned above and are naturally good at managing their stress. But for most of us, these are skills that we need to learn and master over time.
Does your low level of resilience impact your career?
If you lack some traits common in resilient people, it’s time to get to work. But first, you have to identify the stressors and challenges you face daily. Is it the frequent long meetings that could’ve been an email? Do you work under a clock-watching boss? Or do you feel stressed about the ever-changing directives from the higher-ups? These things can impact your attitude and ability to advance your career. That is until you find a way to improve how you respond to these external factors.
What can you do to become more resilient?
If you get easily stressed out and think you’re not naturally resilient, take heart. Again, grit, adaptability, skill mastery, and other attributes of being resilient can be learned and developed. Here are some tips:
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Conduct a self-assessment
Apart from identifying your daily stressors, spend some time reflecting on other things standing your way. When and how are your buttons pushed? What was your reaction, and what could you have done better?
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Identify your workplace support
While you’re working through your challenges, don’t be afraid to seek help. Say, you’re a dentist with a struggling practice. Perhaps, you need business coaching or dental practice management courses.
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Devise tactics to deal with roadblocks
Whether it’s taking a coffee break with a colleague or taking a quick stroll outside, know in advance the tactics and activities effective in keeping you level-headed and prepare to do them whenever necessary.
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Build a career resiliency action plan
Once you know all the things standing in your way, build an action plan to boost your career growth. Identify the areas of your life you need to work on, specify changes, and list the steps necessary to achieve those changes, including devising tactics to cope with stress and seek all the help you can get.
When building resilience in career and life, the goal is to move from feeling like things are happening to you to feeling confident and having a sense of stamina to tackle any challenges that come your way.
