4 Strategies To Help You Be More Resilient

We all face roadblocks from time to time. Whether it’s a setback, failure, or challenge, figuring out how to move forward can be one of the most frustrating experiences.

At times, factors out of our control led us into the situation. Other times, our failure to plan or anticipate caused the problem. Perhaps most often, though, we are facing new challenges and problems we haven’t faced in the exact same way before. It’s new problem we have to figure out how to solve.

So how do you keep going? How do you stick with the problem long enough to overcome and persevere?

Here are 4 strategies to help you be more resilient.

Focus

Don’t get distracted. Keep focused on what you are doing to solve the problem. What you are doing may be the exact right thing to be doing — you just need to do more of it and stop doing some other things. Bring more energy to the table and up your investment. In the immortal words of Ron Swanson, “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”

Persist

Keep doing what you’re doing. Some challenges just take time. In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to want or even expect instant results. Remind yourself that consistency is valuable and will pay off in the end. Determination is a skill you can develop, which will make you more resilient in the face of the unknown and the complex.

Tell a Better Story

Change the way you describe the setback or failure you are facing. Interpret the situation as one of opportunity, rather than one of loss, weakness, or wasted time. Take on the posture of a “growth mindset,” where effort (not perfection) leads to mastery. Take a different perspective, zoom in, zoom out, and use new words to describe the circumstances. Refuse to use always/never language and get curious about what is possible.

Innovate

Apply new forces and strategies, bring in fresh outside perspective, and use the constraints of your situation to your advantage. Change your strategies and borrow lessons from other areas of life and other problem solvers. Embracing the forced constraints of time, money, or resources will often lead to greater innovation than a blank check brainstorming session.

You can use each of these four strategies on their own or in combination with one another. Take some time to identify potential actions for each of the strategies and then evaluate the potential impact they could have in your unique circumstances. Which action or combination of actions will help you become more resilient and ultimately overcome your setback, failure, or difficulty?

Adam Bouse Coaching offers personal and organizational development coaching. Leadership coaching, emotional intelligence assessments, and team training are just a few of the tools available. Get more info at www.adambouse.co. And check out my book, What Do You Want to Change?, available on Amazon.