Friends,
When I was going through a particularly rough time in my life (specifically, infertility)— I spent alot of time on Pinterest of all things looking for quotes. Happy quotes. Sad Quotes. Pissed-Off-Life-Is-Not-Fair quotes. For whatever reason, seeing these short, pithy thoughts helped match words to what I was feeling inside (And I am NEVER at a loss for words!!!)
One day, I came across this quote and it is one of my favorites — it even inspired my logo!
There have a couple of times in my career that I have felt waves of uncertainty and anxiety crash over me — at the time, it certainly felt relentless. Being an HR professional and a leader of people— you have people looking to you for direction and sometimes, you just don’t have it. I felt it during the financial crisis, and during divestitures of businesses that I KNEW would result in job loss of our employees. That was scary stuff for me then. This is scary for all of us now. I started to absorb the shock of the waves and it quickly became a losing battle.
I don’t have the answers right now, no one does— I am not a doctor, a therapist or a mental health professional. But what I do know is that if we continue to fight AGAINST the waves, it’s not gonna work. So you head to plan B…. you have to learn how to surf.
You may not be good at it, the first couple of times may not feel so good. Eventually, you will get better at it.
My friends, this is how you build resilience. There are some awesome thought leaders around cultivating it and techniques, but the bottom line is this: take time during your day to do SOMETHING that gives you energy and re-fuels you.
#randomlisttime: talk to a friend, don’t talk to anyone, yoga, go for a run, watch Netflix and chill, bake something, EAT something, do a puzzle, punch a pillow, listen to music, bang some pots and pans with your kid, draw / color, stretch, find something you’ve been meaning to do — that project that has been sitting in the corner for 3 months and just DO IT, sit on your steps and just BREATHE, maybe with a cup of coffee (maybe something stronger ???)
My point is that you need to find the thing that works for you, and do it everyday. Are you a leader of teams? Instead of scheduling 30 minutes for that critical update— what about sending a meeting request for 30 minutes with the SUBJECT: DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.
Your team might be confused…but they will probably love you for it (once they have gotten over their shock!) You can practice building resilience AND you can help others practice too— it’s not BS — it won’t solve all of the stresses at work, but it will help!
Let me know what’s worked for you— I know so many of you have great ideas…especially those of you who have been working remotely for awhile!
Be well + stay well!
Jean