Developing Our Emotional Resilience
Developing Our Emotional Resilience
Dialogue about emotional wellbeing is gaining attention within the workplace, and rightly so.
Companies that are clear that they want to cultivate emotional wellbeing for their teams are now turning their attention toward the “how.” While emotional wellbeing describes a desired state of being, emotional resilience is a critical skill to return us regularly to it.
When weathering challenges both in and out of work, it can feel like we’re stuck in the impact zone of continually crashing waves. After each new challenge, we figure out which direction is up, kick hard up for air and catch our breath – just in time to brace for impact again.
While we often try to compartmentalize our work and non-work lives, we are integrated beings. When our emotional capacity is strained from one area of our lives, we are going to have less resilience to handle challenges in other areas.
The good news is: emotional resilience is a learned skill that we can grow and practice. Here are two proven ways to begin to develop that skill, for yourself and others:
1. Self-Awareness
The first step in building emotional resilience is growing awareness. Check in with yourself. Notice your emotions and body sensations with curiosity (no judgment here please!). Are you shut down, withdrawn, checked out? Are you flooded, anxious, fearful, or panicked? Somewhere in between?
By noticing where we “go” under stress, we can start to spot our warning signs earlier. And once we are aware of our patterns, we can learn how to support ourselves and not get too far underwater (i.e. overwhelm, burn out, or emotional distress).
2. Self- Regulation
Once we’ve done the self-awareness work, the next question we can ask is, “What do I need right now?” There’s no “right answer” here - what you need will probably be dependent on the moment. Write down your short list of things that help to calm you when you’re feeling anxious or energize you when you’re feeling shutdown. What helps you get back to feeling like you?
Our list includes breath work, practicing gratitude, a warm cup of coffee or tea, and spending time in nature. What are yours?
The more we notice and help ourselves return to a state of emotional wellbeing, the more resilience we develop. Although the waves will undoubtedly keep coming, we’ll find our legs grow stronger and we have more time to breathe in the midst of them.