Bouncing Back - 10 Tips for Developing Personal Resilience

Life is full of surprises, twists and turns not all of which may be beneficial or enjoyable. For leaders, managers and employees at every level of business, possessing the ability to adapt to, cope with and overcome life's unforeseen and potentially stressful challenges is an essential trait for continued effectiveness.

'Developing Resilience at Work' offers the most comprehensive, structured and practical means of enhancing personal resilience both at home and at work, but anyone can begin this valuable process by practising Maguire Training's following 10 tips for developing personal resilience.

1) Acknowledge and accept that some events are inevitably beyond your control
Trying to change the unchangeable is a waste of time and energy. It's better to accept that certain situations cannot be changed but can be adapted to and coped with practically and effectively.

2) Recognise your personal strengths and attributes
Self-belief and confidence are fundamental to developing resilience against life's unexpected knocks. Have faith in your own abilities to deal with and overcome challenges.

3) Act now
Avoiding a problem in the hope that it will go away of its own accord is rarely a strategy for success; adopting a practical approach to dealing with a difficult situation at the earliest opportunity can restore a sense of control, better enabling you to tackle it effectively.

4) Draw upon your experiences of comparable events and situations
Every challenge, setback or failure is a learning process, and your response to a previous situation may provide the key to coping more effectively the next time similar circumstances arise.

5) Keep a sense of perspective
When a situation goes unexpectedly awry it's easy to take a disproportionately negative view of its significance. Keeping events in perspective and taking the time to obtain a realistic assessment of their impact will help to determine the best approach to adapting to and coping with circumstances.

6) Nurture a support network
There's truth in the adage that a problem shared is a problem halved, and having a mutually supportive network of colleagues, friends and family to call upon in a crisis is enormously beneficial to personal resilience.

7) Accept and embrace change
Change is inevitable and often unavoidable, particularly in the business environment. Resisting change can be a needless drain on energy and morale. Embracing change and adopting practical strategies to carry you through it is a far more positive approach.

8) Stay in shape
Developing resilience requires looking after your own mental and physical health. Getting sufficient exercise, sleep and relaxation ensures that you are in the best shape to deal with stressful or demanding circumstances.

9) Remain optimistic and forward-looking
Since it is impossible to change past events the best way to cope and remain resilient is to maintain a positive outlook and consider the actions that need to be taken to move forward effectively.

10) Favour small steps over a giant leap 

Adapting to and coping with difficult circumstances is best achieved by setting small, realistic and achievable goals rather than trying to get from A to B in a single leap which may possibly result in failure.

How can we help?

Everyone has the capacity to increase and improve their resilience and can benefit from doing so. Maguire Training's courses provide business leaders, managers and employees with everything they need to achieve greater personal effectiveness through increased resilience. Furthermore, 'An Introduction to Resilience' is additionally provided as an online training course, thanks to Maguire Training's versatile and convenient E-learning platform.