Are you looking for the secret to Resilience?
I will admit that the word resilience was barely on my radar before 2020 arrived. In fact, when this word started showing up in coaching conversations and my social media feed, I was curious – what does it really mean to be resilient? For months I held this in the back of my mind during coaching conversations, while it continued to spread, and then I found myself hitting my pandemic wall – hard! I didn’t just walk up to the wall; I went slamming right into it and frankly, it surprised me. It hurt and I wasn’t sure how to get back up. Suddenly the concept of resilience got personal.
That was September of 2020 with a confluence of COVID-19 circumstances you may be familiar with; a lack of boundaries which led to working long days, excessive sitting, all day Zooming, nightly wine and the lack of fun and joy in my daily routines took me down. It wasn’t anything unique or dramatic – it was simply that combination of ALL THE THINGS that eventually caught up with me. Can you relate? Anyone?
At this point I realized that I needed to understand this concept of resilience for myself and figure out how to cultivate more. If I was going to keep up with the expansion in my business and the ongoing pandemic reality, that in fall of 2020 felt like we were on the final stages (ha! – the second wave felt like a kick in the butt – the concept of a third wave wasn’t even on my radar!). I decided it was time to access my inner and outer resources and create a strategy for myself that would turn things around so that I could arrive in 2021 with the better version of myself in the driver's seat.
Fast forward to now and I can share that I am consistently feeling more resilient today than I have in the past 10 years. Not in a “toxic positivity” way, but I feel clearer mentally, enthusiastic about what the day will bring, have energy to hold spaces online for learning and coaching, and I am more intentional about bringing in joy and other positive emotions on a daily basis. I feel like I can show up for my family and friends in a way that is calmer and more grounded, and my clients receive coaching that is clear and connected. This is who I want to be for those around me, and thankfully I figured out how to create that resilience with a framework that supports me every single day!
As I dove into the research around resilience and the myriad of articles that have suddenly emerged on the topic, it was evident that there are many ways to think about resilience and to practice it. I found that many of the resources I came across would focus on resilience through the lens of mental and emotional well-being, which I agree with 100%, however I felt that there was a missing piece of the puzzle with my physical well-being and how that contributed to the mental and emotional levels of my resilience. I know that these three levels of my human-ness are what create the whole and feed my resilience and that was the start of developing a framework that worked for me.
I started sharing the Inspiring Resilience for Leaders framework in last few months of 2020 and as we entered 2021 this became the “hot topic” for my speaking and workshop requests (which isn’t a surprise). I was excited to share what was serving me with the hope that it would inspire some insights and action for people to make their own resilience a priority, instead of worrying about everyone else around them first. Sound familiar? Yes, we want to take care of those we lead, serve and care about – but we can’t do that with an empty cup. Leading from a place of depletion is not your highest act of service – trust me, I’ve been there and it doesn’t feel good and it’s not who I want to be. Finding your path to resilience in a unique way that works for you is the highest and best way for you to serve those you lead. (Read that sentence again!). Finding your path to resilience in a unique way that works for you is the highest and best way for you to serve those you lead.
So where do you get started? I am excited to share that I took my learning and created an accessible micro-course called Inspiring Resilience for Leaders that is available an affordable price of $37. This micro-course walks you through the framework that I created and equips you with a process to develop a personalized resilience strategy that is simple and doable if you are committed to reconnecting with that “better” version of you.
Practicing resilience is no longer optional and my hope is that this micro-course will inspire you to make YOURSELF a priority so that you can be the leader you are; in your family, your community and at work. I see you. You’ve got this!