The new year, as we know, presents an opportunity for change, a new beginning. This is why so many of us set lofty goals at the start of each year. While this annual ritual can often lead to people biting off more than they can chew, it also proves to be a valuable lesson on the importance of building resilience. While it is fairly simple to land on resolutions like ‘lose weight’ or ‘quit smoking’, sticking to them in the long-term involves overcoming challenges with a positive mindset, focused planning, determination, and ingenuity. Each of these qualities is a factor that contributes to resilience.

How To Build Resilience

In recent times, the word resilience has made its way into almost all leadership conversations. While it may be a particularly important attribute to demonstrate while dealing with hardships, it is a quality that is equally useful in one’s day-to-day life. Fortunately, resilience is something that can be built and developed over time.

Redesign Your Thoughts

After the initial enthusiasm of keeping resolutions weans off, one realizes that self-improvement takes time, hard work, and most importantly, patience. Millions who set out to lose weight, abandon their resolutions within months, sometimes weeks, when they stop seeing immediate changes, treating every setback as a failure.

One of the most critical aspects of building resilience is to reframe the approach to perceived failure. Instead of viewing setbacks as irreversible, focus on the small steps that you can take to enable positive changes. At the same time, it is important to remember that change is a process. Whether it is a personal goal or an organizational crisis, change does not happen overnight. Start small, put time into planning, if your current approach to overcoming a hurdle is not working, reevaluate your strategies, and develop a new plan. It helps to be flexible with one’s plan and even one’s end goal.

Seek Support

Having a reliable and robust support system is essential to building resilience. Displaying the tenacity to quickly bounce back from adversities does not mean doing it all by yourself. To remain positive and gain new insights, it is also necessary to communicate openly about challenges that you face. For example, those who resolve to lose weight at the beginning of the year might need more than just lifestyle changes to achieve their target, they might need the help of a nutritionist. The key is to recognize the need for external help and act on it.

Learn & Adapt

The road to any goal is not always a straight one, it is ridden with obstacles and challenges. Encountering a setback is one of the most common reasons why people give up on their New Year's resolutions. But building resilience is about viewing relapses as learning opportunities. The same is true for our mistakes. Learning from them equips us with a better understanding of the challenges we face, thus, preventing us from repeating them.

A Word From Us

As a leader, building resilience is necessary in today’s uncertain and volatile world. The good news is that one can start by practicing some resilience-building skills in their daily lives. Developing a positive mindset, creating a strong support system, and taking proactive steps to improve things can go a long way toward becoming more resilient in the face of complex challenges.