The world has dramatically changed in the last few months. Many of us have experienced a significant shift in our worlds of work; an increase in remote working, flexibility of working hours, and a focus on the outcomes rather than time spent working, virtual meetings have become the norm, a thin line between work and life has been created and so on. On the negative side, we have also seen many job losses and massive income slashes which have undoubtedly caused many of us emotional and mental distress. And yet, we know little about the future. It is thus crucial that now more than ever, we enhance our emotional fitness as this will be a key asset in overcoming many of the current and unforeseen future challenges in our careers and lives in general.
What is emotional resilience? Simply, “it refers to one’s ability to adapt to stressful situations or crises ”(verywell mind).” Closely related to emotional intelligence; (we highlight in this video several ways you can bring Emotional Intelligence into your everyday work interactions into your everyday work), emotional resilience helps you control how your thoughts, actions, and behaviors adapt to difficult situations, and this can help prevent you from losing your ability to be productive, collaborative, intentionally going after your career goals and so much more.
We outline below, 3 ways developing emotional resilience can boost your career development:
1. Adaptability – Emotional resilience allows us to cope with changes such as organizational restructuring, a redefinition of our jobs, different organizational cultures when we switch jobs, our approaches to how we do our work based on the changing needs of the organization, and so forth. Every moment of change is an opportunity for growth and learning. Emotional resilience allows us to be clear-headed which helps us generate solutions and move gracefully with the flow of the changes taking place. Thus, we are able to make better decisions that solve our most immediate challenges and prepare us to succeed in the future
2. Developing your confidence – The more you’re able to overcome difficult situations, the more confidence you develop in yourself and the ability to thrive under difficult circumstances. Confidence is a muscle. The more you practice and experience it, the stronger it grows. In difficult fast-changing situations, one needs to be confident to trust themselves, their decisions, and the solutions they come up with. Whether you’re transitioning to a new field, succeeding in your new restructured role, or finally becoming an entrepreneur after a job loss, confidence will get you halfway there!
3. Developing empathy – Emotional resilience not only allows you to develop empathy for others, but also self-compassion for yourself. And right now, we need to be more gentle and kind to ourselves. Empathy will help us take the blows without blaming ourselves. Empathy will remind us that we did the best we could under the given circumstances. Empathy will help us communicate our needs more effectively to our colleagues, bosses, and other stakeholders while keeping in mind that everyone is going through different challenges right now thus creating space for understanding and supporting each other in our unfolding career journeys.
How can some of the ideas shared today support you in becoming a more resilient individual?
Feel free to share with us at happycareers@edgeperformance.co.ke. Looking for more similar content? Visit our Career Happiness Center and learn more about how to succeed in your career!