It is important in life and in running your business to build the 'muscle' of resilience. Dictionary definitions of resilience speak about the ability to recover quickly after a problem, illness or disappointment, or in terms of objects, having the property to be able to return to the original shape after being misshaped, stretched or pressed.
In the previous post, I wrote about Focused Action Taking, which requires consistency of taking actions. What if you are feeling that action after action is leading nowhere?
It is tempting when starting your business to change course, or to quit after a while if we don't see the results we are expecting within whatever window or time period we arbitrarily give ourselves.
The life of an entrepreneur requires resilience - the inner belief that consistent action taking is leading to "somewhere" and that actions will yield a positive outcome in the future. It is saying to yourself that the actions (as aligned to your Purpose) are working and not giving in when the first sets of disappointments come our direction. If the actions are not aligned to your Purpose, there will be a mismatch, leading to "going through the motions" and then loss of confidence when the results don't come.
What tools can you use for building your resilience?
Give time and room to yourself to think about the possibilities. Oftentimes we can get caught up in go, go, go - just mechanically taking action without being conscious of the process/ steps we are taking, without giving time to enjoy the process and without time for inspiration during the journey.
Space and stillness to think what does this outcome look like, how does it serve me, how am I serving me today? Purpose alignment is critical. Oftentimes when we have internal conflicts, this is because the activity or task that is causing the internal conflict is not serving us well and is not connecting to our Purpose.
Break projects into smaller components to not get overwhelmed - you know the expression "the way to eat an elephant is one piece at a time".
Give time to outside activities and interests that give you joy and making them habits. The positive in one part of life transfers over to other parts such as building your business. They give you strength when other aspects of life might not seem as though they are going well.
Be kind to yourself - if we spoke to others as we do sometimes to ourselves, then others would not want us around and they would not want to be friends with us.
Plant positive and good thoughts to "feel good".
Imagine what your Future Self who achieved the goal would be telling you
Having a social support network and not being afraid to ask for help.
Lots of these tools are mindset related - ways to fuel ourselves with the will to 'bounce back' during disappointments. Fuel to keep telling ourselves "it is working" and if we do have to realign, we are finding inspiration from the other parts of life to do so. If we are having internal conflict and on reflection the activity or task is not serving us well, then we can give ourselves permission to alter course to what "serves us well". This is not quitting or a sign of failure - it is being kind to yourself and a sign of demonstrating your resilience.
* I like the imagery of the Morning Glory plant. Every morning there are new flowers that bloom only for that day.
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