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

All the talk in the news in the past week has been about the meeting between President Trump and President Putin. I was reflecting on how resilient the people of Ukraine have had to be to cope with invasion of their country and the effects of war. I was thinking also about the families of both Ukrainian and Russian people who have had to cope with the loss of loved ones.

We all go through challenges and periods of uncertainty in our life. Life is not always plain sailing. All of us experience highs and lows. Experiencing, coping and emerging successfully from a challenging time can help us to be stronger and help us to develop our resilience.

The ability to adapt and bounce back is stronger in some people than others. However, with focus and attention we can develop our resilience just as we 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 flourish and thrive.

Certain conditions in people’s lives help them to be resilient. These include having a few people to talk to without feeling judged and also receiving regular encouragement from others.

Maintaining good health and physical condition with regular exercise, sufficient sleep and a healthy diet play an important role. Being involved in community projects, charitable causes, staying optimistic and expecting things to work out for the best also help.

Here are some ideas to develop resilience:

Goal setting

Having personal goals, even small every day ones help you to look towards the future with optimism and provide a sense of accomplishment once completed. Goals you’ve achieved in the past are a strong reference point (in the future) when you’re pursuing something and 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, your growth and development. Have positive expectations of success and create a mechanism to review your progress. 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. It helps to relieve stress and keep your spirits up.

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 strategies that helped you cope with previous hardship.

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 exercise daily.

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. It can help you to create some new ideas, approaches and action plans that you can practically apply.

This week why not pause for a few moments to reflect and consider what action you can 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

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Sir Winston Churchill.

The tv and radio personality Noel Edmonds and his wife Liz, moved to New Zealand in 2019. I have been watching a tv programme called Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure about their new life.

During one of the episodes, Noel said “What did you do today? Did you make an excuse or did you make a difference?” This got me thinking about meaning and purpose in life.

It was Robert Byrne who said “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” The quote ties in with many philosophies that suggest that having a purpose is vital to living a happy, fulfilled and positive life. Purpose provides a focus for action and priorities and increases the meaning in life.

Many people see that having a clear purpose helps them to have a better understanding of how they can contribute to making the world a better place. We all have a unique set of skills and qualities and our purpose can be a way of using them to be of service to others.

Many people spend so much time working that it’s important that they find meaning in their job and everyday actions. It’s great if people have a real understanding of how their personal efforts fit in and contribute to an organisations purpose and vision. Whatever the responsibilities of our job, it’s great to feel part of something bigger and that our contribution is making a positive difference.

There is a nice story about when President John F. Kennedy was visiting NASA headquarters for the first time in 1961 when they were planning an expedition to the moon.

While touring the facility, he introduced himself to a janitor who was mopping the floor and asked him what he did at NASA. The janitor replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon!”

The janitor understood the vision of NASA and felt part of it. It gave him purpose in his work.

After the great British architect Christopher Wren had designed St Pauls Cathedral in London, he visited the site to review progress of the building work.

When he did so, he walked around unrecognized among the men who were carrying out the building work he had designed.

“What are you doing?” he enquired of one of the workmen, and the man replied, “I am cutting a piece of stone.”

As he went on, he put the same question to another man and the man replied, “I am earning five shillings two pence a day.”

And to a third man he addressed the same question and the man answered, “I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build a beautiful cathedral.”

The third man understood the vision and felt his actions were purposeful. He could see beyond the cutting of the stone and earning his daily wage, to the creation and building of a great cathedral.

This week, why not pause for a few moments to reflect and consider what action you can take to bring greater meaning and purpose 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

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” Winston Churchill.

When I turned 59 in November last year, I decided that I would increase my emphasis on physical health and activity. During the past year I have increased my daily exercise, changed some eating habits and this has resulted in me losing some weight. I now weigh about 7lbs more than I did in 1995 when I was 30.

I was thinking the other day that as part of a self-care regime we exercise, take vitamins and health supplements to maintain good physical health. During this reflection I concluded that we also need to take conscious steps to develop and sustain a positive mindset and attitude. This can include taking vitamins for the mind to inspire, nurture and nourish it, in order to keep it in a tip top state. This is particularly pertinent at the moment given all the negativity that is reported by the media on a daily basis.

On occasions life will throw us some curve balls. We may be given distressing news, obstacles and adversity to overcome. When this happens, we are more likely to meet and conquer these challenges if we have a positive mindset.

Whilst we can’t control outside events, the good news is that we have total control over our response to such events. This will determine the outcome of the situation.

With this in mind, it’s vital that we accept and take total responsibility for the attitude we choose to adopt in life and present to the world.

A practical way we can do this is to regularly take some vitamins for the mind.

Here are a few suggestions for the various mind vitamins that are available to you:

1. Live in the present, defer worrying.
2. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Appreciate all that you have in life.
3. Make good health a priority. Exercise regularly, eat and sleep well and focus on positive things.
4. Maintain your boundaries. Say no when you need to without feeling guilty.
5. Protect your energy. Avoid spreading yourself too thin and stop being a people pleaser.

 
We all have a limit to the amount of time and energy available to us. Whilst it’s a great feeling to help and please others, we must ensure that we honour our own needs. Saying yes, when we actually want to say no, does nothing for our self-esteem and can have a negative impact on our mood. Guard against over committing your time and spreading yourself too thin.

This week why not take a few moments out to reflect and consider what mind vitamins you need to take in order to develop and sustain a positive mindset.

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