Developing Emotional Resilience by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC
Building a new business or setting out on a new course of business is tough. Along the way, you’re bound to encounter some stumbling blocks that take an emotional toll. Whether it be drama among your staff, financial challenges or stress at home, it’s certain that you’ll have reasons to feel emotionally drained as you set and achieve new goals.
Developing emotional resilience is critical to weathering the storms that are inevitable as you conquer new challenges. There are several ways to help you develop emotional resilience as you work through the trials you face.
1. Face your issues head on. Putting off the issues that are difficult to deal with only lengthens the period of stress. Dealing with issues head on, as soon as these arise helps you in two ways. The first is that it teaches you to be a more proactive leader. The second is that it gives you a chance to gain confidence as you face each trial. The more challenges you conquer, the more confident you’ll be in your ability to manage these trials.
2. Critique your process and results. Each time you face a new challenge or deal with a new issue, critique your performance at the end. This will help you to get better with each obstacle.
3. Look back on your trials with pride. What really develops emotional resilience is internalizing the fact that you rose above your challenges. Each time you reflect on how the last challenge didn’t break you, and probably wasn’t as difficult as you imagined, you gain a little more confidence and emotional resilience. Keeping a journal of your adventures as a leader can be a great way to track your successes as well as a great way to look back on those successes when you need a boost of confidence.
Developing emotional resilience takes time and patience. However, you can shorten the distance to this accomplishment by being intentional in how you deal with challenges as well as how you reflect back on them. Each time you face something new, you develop a little more skill for facing the next challenge without it taking an emotional toll.