I can teach you about resilience because I am one of the most resilient persons you will ever meet.
I survived 7 armed robberies in a banking career
I came back from mental exhaustion in 2010 from working 84 hours a week.
I became a marathoner and ultra marathoner to raise funds for hospice and children with heart defects.
I responded positively to my house being significantly destroyed by fire in 2013.
I responded to injuring 4 discs in my back in 2016 in March to run the Dublin marathon in October
To be resilient you have to cultivate a belief in yourself, a belief that you have the ability to cope with anything the world could throw at you.
At the time of the bank robberies I built my resilience, I could bounce back quickly from each of these significant events.
I began to understand that I had a skill and an attitude that allowed me to develop a positive learned behaviour for my emotional intelligence. I learned composure to be able to manage my emotions during and after the robberies as I had responsibility for the staff and customers at that time.
“Oh you are very resilient” family would say to me simply because I was able to adapt my responses and rebuild my life after each event, but not I must say without feeling a significant level of stress at the time.
Many years later in 2010 I found myself managing several large teams with many demanding deadlines. I was working at 100 miles an hour to stand still and I had to manage operational issues which I believed were non compliant and I ended up meeting senior management to discuss. This ultimately lead to me suffering mental exhaustion.
What I learned from my experience when working at 100 miles an hour 84 hrs a week, constantly worrying about the future.
I had lost my sense of purpose, my ability to clearly identify the cause of my problems , to manage my composure, my self awareness.
My resilience had been instrumental in my successful career and now in 2010 I suffer mental exhaustion I was devestated. It clearly showed a lack of resilience because I was not living in the present and I had lost perspective.
That said, in 2010on reflection I realised I had a deep down resilience, I realised that when I slowed down, worked on my self awareness and overall purpose in life I bounced back stronger after that setback.
I have gone on continue my successful career and to become a marathoner and ultra marathoner, a successful coach and motivational speaker.
You too can be resilient and bounce back and rebuild your life after adversity if you cultivate gratitude, be thankful for what you have rather than focusing on what's missing, get some sleep and maintain perspective.
If you would like some coaching on resilience contact Brian at bjkennomotivation. com
