Published:
04/21/2012 11:33am
4 Steps to Bouncing Forward ™ and Building Resilience
Work-Life Harmony... Balance... Whatever you call it, is a challenge at the best of times. Resilience is one key to maintaining wellness. Resilience is often defined as the ability to bounce back after change, challenge, crisis and adversity; however, I have learned that bouncing back is simply recovering. To bounce forward™ is to be resilient. Here are four action tips to building resilience and bouncing forward™.
Review your Mindset
Take a close look at your mindset. Are your thoughts and words consistent with resilience or with stress? Changing your mindset first requires a decision (e.g. to be resilient or to practice resilience everyday). Then you step into action. Have a meeting with yourself, with one agenda item: Expectations. Are your expectations of yourself (and others) realistic, appropriate, healthy, and doable? If your expectations are verging on perfectionism, what can you adjust to be more real?
Determine what is most important
This is easier said than done because in the heat of a moment, when deadlines approach or when stress levels are high everything feels like a priority. Identify what the most urgent/very important priorities are and put the others aside. Zero in on the tasks that will help you move the priorities to completion. This may require saying “no”, setting boundaries, or asking for help. A great strategy is to have a red file folder that has the five “urgent tasks” you must complete each day, then begin your day tackling those tasks first.
Ask the Big Question
- Will this matter in six months?
- Will it matter next week?
- How about tomorrow?
- What’s the worst thing that can happen if.....?
- What’s the best thing that can happen if....?
- What advice would I give my best friend in this situation?
The Power of ONE!
When we multi-task we are often distracted, zone out, unfocussed, cluttered, and too busy. This can come through in our actions, thoughts, our communication and behaviours (and ultimately our results). Instead of multi-tasking, try single tasking- I call this the Power of One. Work on one task until completed, then move to the next.
Bouncing Forward™ requires daily actions to resilience. One step each day yields 365 action steps each year!
Charmaine Hammond, MA, BA, RSW www.hammondgroup.biz
