Month: July 2021 Page 1 of 2

“Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.”  – Jamais Cascio.

At the start of last week, legal requirements relating to social distancing and other restrictions were lifted in England. The Covid -19 pandemic is far from over but this move is a step back towards how life was before the virus struck.

Many people have had to display resilience over the past 16 months to cope with the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic and the various restrictions and lockdown measures. Resilience is a quality that I really admire in people.

I always enjoy reading stories about how people showed tremendous resilience in the face of adversity or achieved something against all the odds. Resilience is defined in the dictionary as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and having toughness.

The ability to cope with relentless change and to be flexible in thinking are key to helping people thrive in today’s demanding world. The capacity to quickly bounce back from set-backs, challenges and disappointments is a wonderful quality to possess. Resilience is an innate human quality and It also involves having to continually anticipate and adjust to shifting trends.

It may be that the ability to adapt and bounce back is stronger in some people than others. However, with focus and attention you can develop your resilience just as you can build up muscles through regular exercise. I believe that having great resilience and the capability to find extra reserves of energy when required are vital to help people to thrive.

Certain conditions in people’s lives help them to be resilient. These include having people in their life who they can talk to without feeling judged and receiving regular encouragement. Maintaining good health and physical condition with regular exercise, sufficient sleep and healthy diet play an important role. Involvement in community projects and charitable causes, staying optimistic and expecting things to work out for the best also help.

It is possible to develop your resilience and I have detailed some ideas and tips on how to do this below: –

Goal setting

Having personal, even small every day goals help you to look towards the future with optimism and provide a sense of accomplishment once completed. Small action steps applied consistently every day lead to outstanding results. Goal achievement helps to provide a strong reference point in the future when the going gets tough.

Acceptance and positive expectations

Accept that you are unable to change the past and focus your energy on the present moment and your growth and development. Have positive expectations of success and create a mechanism to review your progress. Place your attention on how you are progressing in life and remind yourself regularly how you have evolved. Maintain a positive attitude and optimistic outlook.

Make room in your life for laughter and fun

The ability to maintain a sense of humour and to see the funny side of a situation when facing a challenge is a great coping mechanism and an excellent habit to develop. It helps to relieve stress and keep your spirits up. To ensure you laugh often set regular time aside to watch funny movies, TV shows or read humorous books.

Remember how you conquered previous challenges

When you face a fresh challenge remind yourself how you conquered a previous challenge and the learnings that you took from the experience. It’s good to have clarity about how you coped with previous hardships and the skills and strategies that helped you. I find that when a difficulty presents itself that it’s useful to tell myself that everything changes and like a storm “that this too will pass.”

The importance of self-care

Take care of your needs and feelings both physically and emotionally. Engage in hobbies and pastimes that you really enjoy and contribute positively to your overall wellbeing. Get sufficient sleep each night and maintain regular sleep patterns. Exercise for 30 minutes each day. A brisk daily walk is a good way to achieve this and gives you some fresh air.

Maintain a journal

This helps to externalise your feelings and provides a sense of clarity and perspective. It quite often allows you to view situations in a different way and conjures up new perspectives for you to consider. Often it can help you to create some new ideas, approaches and action plans to put into practice to solve problems.

Practice stress management and relaxation techniques

Many people tell me how useful they find practising yoga, meditation or visualization techniques. It gives them a sense of inner calm and balance. Increasingly mindfulness techniques are gaining in popularity and there are some good apps and books available. All of these approaches contribute positively to helping people to cope effectively with difficult and challenging circumstances.

This week, why not take a few moments to reflect and consider how resilient you are. Is there any action you need to take to develop your resilience?

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci.

On a recent holiday to Cornwall, we visited the lovely village of Mevagissey. The village nestles in a small valley and faces east to Mevagissey Bay. The inner and outer harbours are busy with a mixture of pleasure vessels and working fishing boats. It has a thriving fishing industry and is the second biggest fishing port in Cornwall.

The weather was warm and sunny and it was lovely to spend some time in the sunshine watching the comings and goings in the harbours whilst eating an ice cream!

This experience along with time spent on beaches and doing some coastal walks with spectacular scenery led me to conclude that simple things in life can bring so much pleasure.

We get so caught up with work, family commitments, pursuing goals and earning money that it’s so easy to lose sight of the value of stopping and focusing on simple pleasures. Sometimes these things don’t cost a great deal of money but bring a lot of joy and good feelings. Quite often the best things in life are free!

Life can get so busy that we can have limited time to enjoy the simple and important things in life. It’s easy to take these for granted. Watching the harbour activity reminded me of the story of the Mexican Fisherman.

The Mexican Fisherman

A US businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican fishing village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while, senor.” The American asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish. The Mexican said that he had enough to supply his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman said, “I play with my children, take a siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos.   I have a full and busy life, senor.”

The American smiled, “I have a Harvard MBA, that’s a degree in business studies, I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet. Then instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would, of course, need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, senor, how long would all this take?”

The American replied, “Fifteen to twenty years.”

“But what then, senor?”

The American laughed, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you sell your stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.”

“Millions, senor? But then what?”

“Then you would retire, move to a small coasting fishing village, where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife Maria, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with the amigos.”

With just the hint of a twinkle in his eye, the fisherman said, “Senor, are these business degrees hard to get?”

This week, why not pause for a few moments and consider what steps you can take to bring greater balance to your life.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”  – Colin Powell.

I have just returned from a wonderful holiday in Cornwall. During our holiday, we went to Land’s End and passed by the Minack Theatre. The story of how the theatre was created featured in my first book “Be First Class” which was published in 2016. I thought I’d feature the story in the blog this week. It’s an excellent example of how you can turn a vision into a reality through hard work, determination and collaboration.

The Minack is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea. It’s situated at Porthcurno which is 4 miles from Land’s End. It has inspiring and breath-taking views over the neighbouring coast line. If you’re lucky and it’s a clear night, a sunset provides a fabulous bonus to the production.

Many visitors who arrive at the Minack imagine that it was built by invading Romans but the truth is the theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade. Miss Cade had moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point for £100.

The history of the theatre as stated on the theatre website is that in 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a nearby meadow at Crean, repeating the production the next year. They decided that their next production would be The Tempest. While Rowena Cade did think of offering her garden to stage “The Tempest” there really was nowhere to seat an audience.

Always resourceful she prospected alternatives, one of which was on the opposite side of the bay. Then, looking into the gully above the Minack rock she said “I wonder if we could make a stage here?” With the benefit of decades of hindsight and with her remarkable theatre spread out below, the answer was clearly “Yes!”

Over the course of six months and during a harsh winter, Miss Cade and her gardener, Billy Rawlings, made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below. In 1932, The Tempest was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Miss Cade resolved to improve the theatre, working over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life (with the help of Billy Rawlings and Charles Angove) so that others might perform each summer.

Over the next seven years there were many improvements and extensions. Then, with the coming of World War II, it seemed as though all the back-breaking work might have been wasted. When peace returned, Rowena looked out over a ravaged theatre. It had been reduced back to what it had been in 1932. However, with great determination Rowena slowly brought the Minack magic back to life, working on improving and developing the theatre for over 50 years.

Looking at pictures now, it’s remarkable what she and her two helpers achieved. Apparently, she worked each winter in all weathers until she was in her mid-eighties. When she died, just short of her ninetieth birthday, she was still thinking of the future. She left elaborate sketches suggesting how the Theatre might be covered on the days when it rains.

This frail looking lady must have had tremendous faith, strength and determination to achieve her vision. It’s quite remarkable what she managed to create and leave as a legacy. It’s a facility that has thousands of visitors each year and brings pleasure to many who are grateful for Rowena’s work and perseverance.

When thinking about the Minack Theatre and Rowena Cade, a few things occurred to me about the power of having a personal vision and goals. I have shared these thoughts below: –

• When you set a goal or have a personal vision, you have no comprehension of the potential impact it can have on hundreds of thousands of people and the positive ripple it can create.
• It’s incredible what a few committed individuals with a common purpose (working without machinery) can achieve. Truly remarkable and inspiring.
• When you have a vision, it requires lots of faith, determination and perseverance to help you overcome obstacles and set-backs that you encounter along the way.
• Your commitment and resolve will be tested but when you meet and conquer the adversity you emerge stronger and wiser for the experience. You can then look back with a sense of pride at your accomplishment.
• It’s possible to create something that outlasts you.

This week why not take a few moments out to reflect. Consider what one action step you could take to ignite or energise a personal goal that you have.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk