Resiliency- Three Ways to Increase Your Range of Motion

 

How flexible are you?  Do you feel like an old rubber band or Gumby? 

Resiliency, I realize, is more than flexibility.  Webster defines it as:

tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

When we don't stretch the muscles in our bodies they tend to loose their range of motion.  I am pretty sure the same can be said for our minds...if we are not stretching/exercising our thinking what happens?  Think about stretching your career muscles.  Expand your range of motion.  Really, what does this mean? 

First, don't wait for a layoff to begin training for a marathon.  My neighbor is training for a triathlon in the Fall (it isn't even June yet).  She will begin swimming in the cold waters of Canandaigua lake within the next couple of weeks.  Could this be like the employed worker testing the waters of the job market?  Set a goal and figure out how you need to reach it.  Start early.

Second, Get in the pond and build relationships with the other fish.  If you are serious about your career, you'll want to be the big fish in a little pond.  In order to do that, you'll want to know who the other fish are.  Play nicely and differentiate yourself.

Third, Do something that scares you every day.  Or at least step out of your comfort zone every day.  It can be as simple as driving another route work, reading a different type of book, listening to a new radio station, trying new eye glasses.

When you are in crisis, your resiliency is lower.  It is helpful to have some existing level of resiliency prior to heading into crisis.  However, it is never too late to begin training for your next marathon.  Whatever you do, do not become comfortable. 

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time"  Andre Gide

Additional thanks to Jason Alba for his inspiring post My Calf, My Career, Your Career.

Comments

[Carol White Llewellyn, The Finger Lakes Travel Maven]

I like the idea of "doing something that scares you every day/ stepping out of your comfort zone." I may not always enjoy doing it, but I certainly get a different perspective.

If you are stepping out of your comfort zone, congratulate yourself for taking the initiative, no matter how it turns out. Recognize the courage that it took to do it and you'll see yourself differently. You'll feel braver and stronger.

A quote I really like, by Mary Anne Radmacher, that symbolizes this concept of stepping out of your comfort zone is:

"Celebrate the ball out of the park as sincerely as the courage to lift the bat. It's the same thing."

Cheers!