Written by: Janette Young, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
How resilient are you? Personal resilience intelligence or PRQ (Young, 2022) is unique to all of us. Resilience is a type of mystery — as we all have different sets of experiences in life that function as a reservoir that we tap into. Whilst some of us have had many life experiences that help us through tough times, others have had fewer, and they have not acquired the inner strength to help them survive. However, there are strategies that can be applied to help you create greater balance in your daily life.
The strategic solutions for personal resilience that arose from research acquired from interviewing digital creative leaders were highlighted in Janette Young’s latest book Leadership Resilience in a Digital Age. These aspects are noticeable in terms of inner and outer solutions, all of which form part of an integral approach to personal resilience, encompassing mind, body and spirit. Nine aspects are presented.
1. Start extending outwards for dialogue and conversation
First, an outer solution is to reach out to trusted friends, family or colleagues/professionals who can engage in confidential dialogue and where the conversation can be candid and real. As such, you can begin to verbally express and share your ideas and thoughts. When you share with people who are non-judgemental this encourages vulnerability and opening up, and encourages you to allow yourself to explore, reflect and modify your ideas as you go along. Ultimately, enabling you to change and modify your pre-conditioned mental models or ideas. This process may be as simple as going to the pub or to dinner to talk to a friend or it may involve having a professional external coach and mentor to converse with. Ask yourself if you have a network of trusted others to reach out to in times of need? Regardless, trust is key and being vulnerable with another human is part of the process. Reaching out and talking is the first crucial step towards being personally resilient.
2. Awareness of self-talk and reaching for a positive mindset
Observe your own self-talk. This really means observe what you are thinking and try to review and re-phrase anything that gets too negative. For instance, being aware of the language you talk to yourself with will help you query whether what you say to yourself is really true. By doing so, you can revise your inner storyline (narrative) and re-write this in a way that is more positive and constructive. This is part of your conscious awareness of the part your own self-talk plays in your life. You are what you think, and the inner narrative is a powerful conductor.
3. Create quiet space
The third aspect is to create that quiet space for inner reflection and introspection. In a quiet space, you can take time out, do the inner exercises, listen to music and calming apps without interruption. This space could be indoors or outdoors depending on what works for you. Quiet space needs to be established to enable you to tap into those personal inner listening resources.
4. Listen to your inner voice
The fourth aspect is to listen to your inner knowing. Tapping into your own internal inner resource of intuition, knowingness and gutfeel. Tune into your inner voice. We all have natural intuition, which for many of us has been ignored or not valued enough in life. This is your inner guide. In the natural world, animals run to the hills before a tsunami arrives as they know in advance and are deeply instinctively alert. Learning to listen to your inner voice requires very deep listening and knowingness techniques. Be open to this and listen to your greater self. Ask the question and listen for the answer. You have your own in-built reservoir of resources and solutions; you may just not be utilizing them.
5. Notice the body’s signals
The body actually talks to you. Are you listening? The fifth step involves listening to detect the symptoms in your body. Really be preventative. Stop and look out for the signals in your body. What are they conveying to you? Awareness of unusual symptoms is a type of radar that enables you to pick up the signals. What do these signals tell you? Are they for instance aches, pain, tears, anxiety or twitching eyes? The signals tell you that something is not right. Do not wait until you get a serious illness before you listen to the body's navigation system. Act in advance.
6. Introduce exercise and physical activity to daily life
The sixth aspect is a preventative physical activity step involving exercise such as running, gym, walking, cycling, swimming or cricket or other sports. Regular exercise helps you to de-stress. Keep this up and make it a habit for the future. Whatever works best for you will improve your physical and mental wellbeing. Commit to this daily or weekly as part of your well-being plan.
7. Focus on therapeutic and wellness activities
The seventh aspect focuses on wellness and therapeutic activities such as visiting a retreat for the day or doing yoga, meditation or mindfulness. As well as listening to relaxation CD’s, mindfulness can be as simple as savouring in nature and appreciating the nature all around you. It may be that you sit quietly to breathe in or out. Ultimately, practicing meditation and breathing techniques creates a whole host of mind, body and spirit benefits.
8. Focus on relaxation activities
This might include cooking, gardening, spending time with the family or with pets, listening to beautiful relaxing music. It might be that you like to spend time in the garden in order to relax. It is unique to you. Take time to switch off. Be aware of what relaxation activities work for you.
9. The Journey
The ninth aspect encompasses viewing personal resilience as a journey, not a destination. Separate the personal from the professional persona. If things go astray in your professional life do not attach this to your personal life. Re-frame failure and challenges; it is about adjusting and constantly learning on the journey. Life is a journey, expect the unexpected, expect the setbacks. As you do so learn from the experiences and re-frame you’re thinking.
Personal resilience intelligence requires a willingness to commit to a variety of solutions that work best for you in your current circumstances. Reach out and explore and assess your own personal resilience intelligence.
The theme for the above article derives from Dr Janette Young’s book Leadership Resilience in a Digital Age, Routledge (2022)
Janette Young is a coach, consultant and academic who enjoys coaching for transformational change. Connect here!
Janette Young, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Janette Young is an experienced senior academic, coach and consultant. She has worked in UK Universities as a Director of master’s programmes for many years. Most recently, author of Leadership Resilience in a Digital Age, Routledge. Janette explores personal resilience intelligence in these ever-changing times. Her latest book highlights the voice of the creative digital leaders she interviewed on this topic. The book presents stories about how leaders have faced significant challenges and pressure, and how they have used these experiences as catalysts to transform, flourish, and develop personal resilience. In the book she presents strategies and solutions for personal resilience and presents a framework for the leaders as a Digital Sage.
Janette is passionate about all things personal development and focuses on knowingness, personal resilience (PRQ), creativity, innovation, design, mind body and spirit, and wellbeing in all her work.
Her previous book was Personal Knowledge Capital: the inner and outer path of knowledge creation in a web world. Elsevier/Chandos.
