In this Young Professional Challenge we will be exploring resilience, it forms part of your self belief tool kit alongside motivation and having a positive attitude. These three skills work together really well and it can be difficult to talk about one without including the other three.
We have looked at resilience before, we’ve explored what it is, and how to talk about it in an interview too, (you can catch up over here) but today we are going to look at three things you can do when you find yourself in a tricky situation and you need to pick yourself back up again.
Reality hits:
So it’s happened a big (or little) problem has got in your way and that’s it you aren’t quite sure what you should do. Have you failed an exam? Is someone mad at you? Have you just cost your team the big match? Stop and take a breath, let reality hit you for a moment and just think. What has gone wrong and how big of a problem is it? Take responsibility and apologise if you need to but don’t this keep you down for too long, everyone makes mistakes and your next steps are more important….
Weigh up your options – is it best to move on or keep swimming?
Depending on what the problem you might be able to pick up and move on quickly by keeping a good attitude. For example, if a mistake you made allows the other team to score that will make you feel a bit rubbish but acknowledge it and move on, make sure you pick your motivation and self belief levels right back up and get out there to help your team win. You might have made a mistake in a team project and the team could be a bit frustrated with you but there’s almost always time to fix it and get the help you need.
From time to time there are things that happen and challenges that come our way that can’t be fixed straight away, sometimes things can take a longer journey to get back on track again. If you have failed an exam or perhaps you are on report in school or on a performance plan in work. The fact it can take a little longer to get back on track doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying, in fact this is the ultimate test of resilience and really shows off your skills.
Show that you’ve learnt from it:
Like all Disney movies our setbacks and challenges always come with a lesson learnt at the end of it. If you can show that you have learnt from your mistakes and make sure you build that awareness in to the next match you play or the next project you work on then you are showing all the signs of a Young Professional.
Sometimes after we have overcome our big challenge we forget just what an achievement we have made so make sure you are making a note of them. Employers will have made their own mistakes too so don’t hide away from owning up to when you have made mistakes as long as you are showing what you’ve learnt and what you put in place to fix the problems.
Showing resilience isn’t always about the big challenges, we all face lots of smaller ones throughout our journey and sometimes you can’t be quite sure which little challenge is going to knock you over. Remember that being resilient isn’t about being physically strong it is about being able to pick yourself back up again when things don’t go your way.
Your Challenge:
Think about the last challenge that came way, how did you respond and what could you have done better? If you handled that well have you recorded it ready for when you need it?
