Resilience is How You Recharge (not How You Endure)

Resilience is How You Recharge(not How You Endure)

Resilience is often misunderstood. Many people define resilienceas the ability to ‘bounce back’. I agree, but truly resilient people also havethe ability to  ‘BOUNCE FORWARD’ after‘change’; ‘adversity’ and/or ‘chasing an opportunity’.

In a nutshell if you don’t feel like reading any further: here arethe 3 main points:

1.    Beingresilient and having the ability to BOUNCE FORWARD requires two inputs: yourENERGY + your AGILITY!

2.    Ifyou have grit, tenacity and determination you may be able to FIGHT FORWARD,which is endurance … but this is NOT enough.

3.    Ifyou want physical energy and mental agility .. .you need to know ‘how to’recharge and recover … and only then can you BOUNCE FORWARD.

Research has shown that there is a direct correlation between lackof recovery, and increased health problems!

Let’s also be real. Just because works stops at 6pm, it doesn’tmean that you go into recovery mode. I find that people are still talking aboutwork issues over dinner. They are often back on emails after dinner, and thenthey complain about insomnia / sleep problems. Either they can’t fall asleepbecause they are worried about work issues, or they collapse in nano-seconds,but wake up at 2am in a highly anxious state of worry!

The use of technology has interfered with ‘cognitive recovery’…. Even for students.
An exhausted student goes to class: he/she will lack the cognitive resources toreally ‘absorb the info’ ; they have less self-control, and their mood is ‘low’/ they report feeling ‘down’!

Overwork and exhaustion are theopposite of resilience.

A resilient person tries reallyhard, then stops to rest, then tries again.
We need to take into account … the more time a person spends in their (high) performancezone, the more time they need in the ‘recovery zone’. In other words, the valueof a recovery period rises in proportion to the amount of work required of us.Let’s also remember that ‘Rest’ and ‘Recovery’ are not the same thing. Stoppingwork does not equal recovering. Your body may be in a state of rest, but yourbrain is not in a state of ‘recovery’.

What is recovery?

Internal recovery can be ‘micro-bursts’ of  relaxation that take place throughout our day– a 5 min walk listening to a song or calling a friend. Or even 50 squats nextto your desk … don’t be shy / embarrassed. In fact encourage your colleagues todo the same! Have a few ‘brain breather’ distractions during the day.

External recovery is the action/s that take place outside ofwork – so your evenings, weekends & holidays. At the end of your day… if youlie around and get riled up by the news you read on your phone, or stress aboutthe project plan you are working on …  your brain hasn’t received a break from thestate of high mental arousal.
Our brains need rest as much as our bodies.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Here are a few more ‘recovery’ suggestions:

1.    Planto do things that are fun and enjoyable : a walk at the end of the day with amate, or your dogs. Remember that  ‘motion shifts emotion’.

2.    Listento an inspiring Podcast. (something that is uplifting and enjoyable)

3.    Have a massage.

4.    Goand play squash / horse-ride / table tennis / Padel.

5.    Moveaway from your desk, and have lunch with a friend (30mins is cool).

6.    Setyour mobile to go off every 90 mins and stretch, or walk down the corridor.‘Sitting is the new smoking’ and research tells us that sitting for more than 2hours lowers your good cholesterol by 40%

7.    Findthings that make you laugh. I am watching the old re-runs of  ‘Friends’ at the end of the day. 30 mins oflaughter. I recently heard Brene Brown say that she does the same. PS She hasjust taken a 14 week ‘sabbatical’!

8.    Planmini - breaks e.g. three day weekends, or even one weekend night away at a BnB !

Of course when all’s said and done, the bestperson to tell you how to recharge is YOU. You know what makes you feelrefreshed – do those things! At least one of them every day.

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