RESILIENCE MATTERS!

I have been struggling with family illness and the challenges elderly care brings to us all and Martin Seligman, Carol Dweck and Alison Duckworth all stress that resilience is a key aspect of successfully managing the challenges life throws at us.

I was looking on-line and I found an article that talked about five ways to improve resilience and ensure long-term, positive impact or well-being and learning.

1. What do you believe in? It is important that we learn from an examination of our beliefs and how might they impact on our lives. 
2. How are you connected to others? We know from evidence and research that having a close network of colleagues who we can speak to about the challenges helps us to tease out issues before they become problems. 
3. What time are you spending thinking about what you are doing? Spend time reflecting on what you have done, and planning what you will do next. 
4. Are you being challenged and are you taking risks? Again the research says that we should take professional risks; stretch ourselves and constantly develop our understanding and expertise. 
5. Are you learning from everything you are doing? We need to rethink our responses to the more challenging aspects of our work and our lives in general and recognise that every situation offers learning and development. 

Resilience isn't about the creation of a world with no adversity. It's about being able to respond in a positive way, whether in the short, medium or long term, to the events that make up our lives both in work and outside.