personal growth

Building and Maintaining Personal Resilience in Difficult Times (Part One)

| Brian E. Dick, MA, MBA, LPC
Resiliency Is Uneasy Growth

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.”

All age groups are included.

https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm

When faced with difficult circumstances or challenges the natural inclination is to avoid, bury ourselves in something or potentially engage in destructive habits or behavior.

The journey through hard times is uneasy. Growth can be uneasy. Resiliency implies that we focus on our well being, where we focus on a positive outcome. Needless to say, if we are resilient, we are flexible and we begin to experience that uneasy growth.

Just like materials that bend and return back to the same shape, individuals can persevere and become stronger as they become resilient.

What is Personal Resilience?

  1. We are able to weather personal storms with a forward facing approach.
  2. They have “Grit”
  3. We have ample social/emotional supports in our lives
  4. We have gratitude for what we have 
  5. We are productive, and work through adversity using the resources we have.
  6. We utilize our strengths to overcome weaknesses, set backs

A resilient person learns to navigate through tough situations, and experiences.

Resilient Leaders

| Brian E. Dick, MA, MBA, LPC

Bad things can happen, and difficulties and challenges occur…resilient people have an uncanny ability to move through the challenges, and others believe reaction is the best way to proceed.

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Resilient people (and leaders):

1. Evaluate situations and manifest possibilities.

2. See the glass half full rather than half empty.

3. Look at the total picture, rather than the immediate issue.

4. Derive strength from available support systems.

Resilient leaders are not excuse makers.  They understand that there will be difficulties and use experience and clear understanding to work through challenges.  They weather the storm, but they also have thought ahead enough to know that immediate reactions are not the most expedient way to resolve problems.  They draw upon available supports, look beyond the barrier, and spend less time getting into emotional reactions, and more time working toward a solution that will move forward.

Consider: Have you ever experienced the energy of a resilient person?  What does this feel and look like?

  • The person smiles
  • They don’t minimize issues, but they don’t let themselves go to lower levels of emotions – such as reactive behavior, blaming or vendettas.
  • They allow people with negative energy to move beyond them, or they go around them.
  • They like who they are, believe in themselves and others around them – they are loyal.

Thought:

If you’ve ever been around one of these people, their energy and mannerisms can be contagious – if you allow it.  Resiliency is the opposite of stress.  Many people subject themselves to stressful reaction, rather than resilient response.  The problems are still there, but the capacity to deal with issues is greater because there is a bigger reservoir of resources, ideas.  Stress kills the capacity to think and respond.  Personalizing the issue kills the ability to be response-able to generate a path forward.

One final consideration…

Examine your problem or stress areas.  How do you respond?  How well do you generate a way forward when consumed with reaction?