DEFINITION:RESILIENCE WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH

Resilience is the level of inner grit you have to handle situations that require drive, focus , and resolution. And our research has found that it’s most strongly associated with being efficient and effective, getting things done, achieving your goals, and fulfilling your potential. So you can see that it’s a vital driving force that needs nurturing if you want to make progress at work.

You need resilience in two different situations that short and sharp, or the longer term.

There is something really important to remember about resilience.

Firstly, having a lot of work and doing difficult things doesn’t meant that you’ll be badly affected by it.

Professor Rob Briner, Head of organisational Psychology at London University ‘s Birkbeck College, said ,” People who have lots of goals, tasks, and responsibilities do much better in terms of their psychological well-being than those who don’t.”

You aren’t necessarily damaged by being at the epicentre of something awful and you are much more resilient than you know. Because you are beautifully built to withstand a lot. The neurotransmitters and hormones you release under pressure are designed to protect you so that you can perform your best in any demanding situation. In fact you wouldn’t want your body to react in any other way, or you’d never feel any highs or lows ; and you have to understand a low to know a high.

But of course nature plays a role too. Just as some people are tall or short , some people are harder and more resilient . Your levels of resilience are therefore part of who you are as well as what you experience.

And the only way you develop resilience is by doing difficult things. Promotions , bonuses, interesting projects won’t come your way without accepting that – nor will you extend yourself by just making easy choices. You grow throw things that challenge you and the earlier in your career the better.