Resilience is a Must for your Entrepreneurial Journey

Buster Moon, the ever-optimistic koala and protagonist of the movie Sing, embodies the spirit of resilience in pursuit of his grand dreams. As the owner of a struggling theatre, Buster faces numerous setbacks, including financial difficulties and a dilapidated venue. Despite these challenges, his unwavering determination and belief in the power of performance fuel his ambition to revive his theatre’s former glory. Buster's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance, as he navigates through obstacles with creativity, hope, and an unyielding passion for his dream, ultimately inspiring others to chase their own aspirations against all odds.

“Life will eat away at us if we let it”

Resilience is a state of physical, emotional, and social congruence, where you can face life's challenges and emerge not only whole and undefeated but also stronger and more prepared for future trials. This strength goes beyond simply returning to your original state; it's about growth and improvement through adversity. Achieving resilience requires harmony across three key areas: physical, emotional, and social well-being.

Physical Resilience: Mind and Body

• Physical resilience stems in maintaining a healthy mind and body. This involves regular physical activity, proper nutrition, sufficient rest, and stress management techniques such as mindfulness or meditation. A resilient body can better withstand physical stress and recover more quickly from illnesses or injuries. Likewise, a resilient mind is able to stay focused, manage stress, and think clearly under pressure, enabling you to face challenges with a calm and proactive approach.

Emotional Resilience: Feelings and Spirit

• Emotional resilience involves understanding and managing your feelings and nurturing the spirit. It includes developing a positive outlook, practicing self-compassion, and cultivating emotional intelligence to navigate and respond to emotions effectively. You can bounce back from setbacks, maintain a sense of purpose, and stay motivated.

Social Resilience: Relationships and Associations

• Social resilience is about building and maintaining strong, supportive relationships and networks. This involves fostering connections with family, friends, colleagues, and community members. Social support provides a sense of belonging, reduces feelings of isolation, and offers practical assistance and emotional encouragement during tough times. Having a network of reliable and understanding people helps you feel more confident and secure, knowing you have a support system to rely on.

Even when we pay attention to all these areas of life, we can still find ourselves becoming blindsided because of things that we had not anticipated. An example of this would be, if you had a full week and then on top of it was lumped an unforeseen crisis. You were already exhausted and unable to rest and now are faced with something out of your control to deal with. Something will give and your resilience will determine how you are affected by it. Can we avoid these things that blindside us? No. But we can prepare for them in order to weather the storm.

Here are twelve tips to help build resilience:

1.       Life is about the choices we make, own your emotions and decisions

2.       A resilient mindset is about believing you can

3.       Create space in your schedules and diary, for the unexpected

4.       Take time to rest, reflect, relax, and refuel

5.       Ponder worst case scenarios and potential responses

6.       Exercise in rhythm with your age and circumstance  

7.       Pay it forward and help others

8.       Build a network of honest, transparent, and supportive relationships

9.       Be self-aware, identify your strengths and where you add the most value

10.   Have the hard discussions rather than avoiding them

11.   Maintain a posture of learning and growth

12.   Be grateful and appreciative of what you have

 These tips won’t prevent the unexpected from happening, but they will lay a good foundation and a level of resilience to build from.

 My  Learnings:

• Resilience is refined by exposure to experience

• I could be blindsided by any issue if my physical, emotional, and social states are not in check

• Resilience enables me to have capacity where I might not normally have it

• Creating space in my schedule is important in increasing my capacity

Read this to learn how to create space: https://www.effectiveinfluence.com/blog/create/space

• I can learn, and grow from experiences that challenge and push me

By maintaining regular disciplines and forming habits from the twelve tips, you will lay a good foundation from which to build resilience.

My  Questions for you:

• When do you create space to rest, reflect, relax, and refuel?

• Are there some hard conversations you need to have?

• Do you have space in your day for unexpected situations?

“Truth be told, you will never really know just how strong and adamant you are unless adversity strikes. Then you learn courage, you build resilience, you learn to persevere, you build character.”

T. Whitmore

Reach out, and let's take time to discover how we can progress together. Remember daily to, 'Find value in your influence.' Your voice matters, and I'm excited to hear from and work with you!"

Written By: Paul Fawcett.