Resilience Vs. Sheer Strength
RESILIENCE VS. SHEER STRENGTH - WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Resilience is not about ‘pulling yourself up by the bootstraps’ or forcing your way through something, it’s more about flow. This topic keeps coming up and it got me thinking - being personally resilient is more about finesse than brute strength. There is certainly power in resilience. However, it’s more about finding the sweet spot, developing specific capabilities, and putting strength behind your intention. Someone who is personally resilient has the capacity to be:
Curious
Flexible
Diverse
Transparent
Equitable
Adaptable
Resourced
Able to learn
These characteristics are not about being wishy-washy - they are specific and integral to building a resilient personal system. They largely represent a willingness to explore without knowing exactly where you are going AND a letting down of your guard to listen and learn. For each of these traits, there is power in the boundaries and agreements you make with yourself (and others) in how you relate to the world. For example, you can create specific agreements with yourself to be curious by posing questions when challenged, to incorporate diversity into your business so that you have multiple ways to deliver a service or product, to be transparent in your communications and processes, and so on. For more information about these traits, click here.
What’s one resilience trait you can build on this week?
Building personal resilience requires an openness and a level of unknowingness. It can be uncomfortable. It’s not surprising that we, as humans, REALLY like to know where we are going and the steps it takes to get there - it’s safe, we have a sense of knowing what’s ahead, and we have a specific destination. The truth is that personal resilience work does not include a predetermined destination in the way you might think it does. It’s more about HOW you go about life (in relating to yourself and the world) and where THAT takes you. If you want to build personal resilience, let go of needing to know every step - it will become clear along the way.
How do we let go of NEEDING to know?
This is such a good one to play with. Do you know that sensation when you NEED to know something to feel comfortable? It’s super challenging because in these cases, if you don’t already know, it’s typically because it’s out of your control. Sitting in the unknown, on the edge of your seat, waiting for answers is a powerless position. By shifting your energy away from the outcome to focusing on how the scenario in question makes you feel, you are creating a powerful shift back to you. In doing this, you regain your power by honoring your feelings. As you let yourself feel, and ‘come out on the other side’, you will release your emotional dependency on the outcome and feel more ease. Give it a try and see what happens.