Serenity is not Resilience
People talk about resilience like it’s a state of mind that can be quickly slipped into.
Resilience, as many people understand it is wrongly attributed with serenity, peace or having no awareness of issues.
Resilience is wrongly used as a mantra. The way people use it is reminiscent of the Seinfeld character (George’s Dad) repeating his mantra “Serenity Now”.
Growth In The Face Of Adversity
Resilience is not ignoring issues.
Resilience is not peaceful (although it can be).
Resilience is not strength overcoming adversity – it is growth in the face of adversity.
Not Easy (That’s The Point)
It is not always easy to grow. We have sympathy for that reality. In the case of 3 Minute Angels, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting social distancing have proven to be a very hard environment to grow within.
Perhaps though because we have been through SARS which caused the original market of 3 Minute Angels – i.e bars and clubs – to close down. We’ve been through the GFC, and resulting 65% sales drop in 8-weeks or because our month-to-month fluctuations can be so varying even in good times that we have developed resilience.
In today’s markets we are finding growth (albeit less financially) in 2 areas:
- New Products: We can still live up to our brand promise of changing people’s mood with delivery of the Virtual Halo and Angels Guide 2 Massage program.
- Skills: We have been working with our Angels on new skills. Our management team has also had to learn new skills. Our leadership has had to learn new skills too. The growth in our skills promotes personal growth and a feeling of self-worth.
It is the fact it’s hard and that we are still showing up that gives us resilience.
Resilience is not pretending it’s easy. Instead, it is finding the self-worth in growth especially in the face of adversity.
Promote Resilience In Your Team
You and your team can’t create resilience by using “resilience” as a buzz word or mantra. You can, however, create resilience by including the elements we have in our Virtual Halo services in your team’s daily routine.
The Routine
- Take 3 deep breaths to focus the mind on the here and now.
- Answer: What are you grateful for?
- Answer: What can you give to someone else that would make them happy? (Pro Tip: giving trumps getting.)
- Practice making decisions – Even making fun seemingly inconsequential decisions like choosing your favourite ice cream flavour will improve your confidence in making serious decisions and avoid you being in “indecision“, which is closely associated with anxiety.
- Get physical: get your endorphins and serotonin pumping with a quick dance or thrill.
None of the above will stop the issues being tough. None of the above is an instant fix (although it will improve your mood and productivity in just a few minutes).
However, the science behind the above routine will build 4 types of resilience: Mental, Physical, Social and Emotional and when you build these 4 Resilience Types you can grow in the face of adversity. (Great explainer here.)