Resilience

Resilience. Not a word we may have used as an indicator of career success prior to the past two years. Words like growth, achievement, fulfillment or execution were terms that described a trajectory aiming upward. The circumstances of the past two years have added resilience to the list of synonyms for success.

What does resilience mean? We can look at it in two ways. It reflects pliability and echoes terms like flexibility and suppleness. It also reflects a quality of spirit. Hardiness, buoyancy and toughness are the spirit of resilience.

Many of us have a different job function and workday than we did pre-pandemic. We are slowly creating a new normal for ourselves and our organizations. To succeed in this ongoing effort the spirit and functionality we need is encapsulated in our ability to be resilient.

How do we do it? The ability to be constantly flexible yet tough can be tiring.

Recent articles give us clues as to what can help take the edge off the energy resilience requires.

How to be flexible and tough? Learn to take breaks. In her Inc.com article Jessica Stillman points out that Desk Time revealed people who get the most done are also those who take regular breaks.

Stillman stated "The study found that the most productive employees tended to work heads down for around 52 minutes before taking a 17-minute break. Then the cycle would repeat itself. By noticing and working with their body's natural ebb and flow of energy, rather than trying to fight against it, these super workers were able to get the most done."

Breaks like the 52-17 give us back the bounciness required to remain buoyant throughout our workday.

The antonyms for resilience are defeatism and rigidity. What is the path to steer clear of these landmines? Lindsay Crouse, in a New York Times article, gives us insight. She states we only mark "good" days as being days that hold a special memory like the day we get a promotion or a great review.

Using the research of Dr. Robert Waldinger, Crouse learned to declare in advance an ordinary day to be a "good" day. Being observant in a given day of what is good triggers positive emotions our brains will not screen out. Declaring ordinary days as good days tricks the brain into seeing them as more special, with more emotional significance than it otherwise would. This creates positive emotions and a clear antidote to defeatism.