What Building Resilience Requires

It's tough to see the bright side of what's been happening around the globe. Looking beyond the financial crisis and the pandemic is tough to do when you are in the thick of things shifting in your own life.

Perhaps you've been hearing things like:

· "You’ll be stronger after this."
· "You’ll learn a few new things."
· "You’ll be so much more connected to your friends and family."
· "You’ll gain a new appreciation for ______________."

Yes, all these are true. Yet, maybe the real lesson we'll get out of all this challenge is a stronger sense of resiliency.

Building resiliency, despite not being on any of our 2020 resolutions lists, does have its benefits. When you are more resilient, you grow in your ability to not only better handle challenges and crises, but you also improve your fortitude to bounce back. Which, ironically, I think we call could use a little more of right about now.

Research shows that resilient people show higher levels of leadership effectiveness. Resilient people spend less time in paralyzing stress and more time in forward action. Being resilient helps us not only navigate tough situations but, more importantly, survive them to take on more.

Here’s what building resilience requires:

A challenge of substantial size

This isn’t to say smaller challenges - your car breaks down, the IRS sends you a bill, you lose a client - don’t build resilience, they do. Yet challenges that are this substantial test our endurance and grow our ability to bounce back in ways smaller challenges cannot.

A problem-solving mindset

You can’t be a victim and a problem solver at the same time. Pity parties aren’t fertile ground for feeling empowered to fix the situation at hand. Ask: What can I do today to feel productive? What small step can I take that works toward solving my biggest challenge?

A desire to be better despite the situation at hand

Could you consider the idea that there might be a better you on the other side of this crisis? What if right now was your defining moment in time? What if a stronger career or a being a better friend or parent was waiting for you through this thickness? What if you kept your eye on the potential vs. the problem?

A higher level of insight and maturity

It takes strength and courage and patience to walk through a fiery furnace and come out the other side ready to face the world. Not everyone can do that. Folks that can rise up a bit and think through things objectively and optimistically may find themselves more equipped to build resilience than others. Accepting your current reality with grace adds more to your life and character than might be noticeable to you right now.

It’s true, we will come out the other side of this stronger. We will have learned a few things. We will be connected tighter to our families and truly appreciate the simplicities of human interaction. Yes, all that. And, we will be more resilient.