Nine rules for engaging hard times
Let’s go ahead and agree on one thing:
We are struggling today with too much change in too short a time. It can get on your nerves.
As a result stress is everywhere. Relationships are strained. Systems are breaking down. Nearly everyone is wounded. Mood and morale are low.
It is into this context that we live our lives and accomplish our work. But how? Previous strategies don’t cut it anymore in this shifted environment.
The one inescapable requirement for engaging such change today is resilience. It is being competent in the midst of intense stressors. Resilience causes us to be bigger than the challenges we face and provides the impetus for us to be co-creators with the future. Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen point out in their book, “Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck-why some thrive despite them all”, that resilience is the signature of greatness.
The really good news is that resilience is not necessarily an inborn personality trait, but a set of capabilities that can be learned. It’s not relegated to only the extraordinary few. It means you all ready have the grit needed in this tough time to succeed in today’s unique moment.
You can be one tough cookie if you want to be.
It’s not going to be easy. Anything deeply worthwhile never is. Wisdom and strength come at a cost. This moment is an opportunity for you to step up, to prove to yourself you can do it, and inspire others to follow suit.
The following nine rules of engagement will help you be resilient; to enhance success at work and significance in life- to bounce back and thrive in life changing times. I will explore each more fully in upcoming posts.
- Be ready not to be ready
- Make full use of the present
- Live with the Long View
- Let go of what’s going away
- Take time to think
- Don’t go it alone
- Don’t should on yourself
- Yuck it up- alot
- Lose it from time to time
These are rules I culled from various studies and resources on resilience. But I know there are more. What would be some rules you would add that helps you bounce back and thrive? Comment below: