With mental health coming to the forefront of the country’s attention more and more over the last few years, International Stress Awareness Week 2019 looks to pull it into even sharper focus. With this year’s theme of ‘Resilience – the power to succeed!’, there’s plenty of opportunities to think about the challenges of well being in the workplace and how to overcome them.
Bouncing back
Responding positively to the pressures and demands a heavy workload can bring means we’re better able to cope with our work. Building the strength of character and resilience to handle all the challenges any workplace can throw at us is quite an achievement. It also helps us with life outside the workplace too.
But while resilience is something we might see more of in some people than others, it’s actually something we’re all born with. It’s just our own experiences that can either build it up or wear it down. That’s why strengthening our resilience is always a work in progress rather than something we can choose to switch on or off.
But for those whose resilience is lower, techniques can be learned to improve the ability to bounce back, adapt to certain situations, and show real strength of character.
Challenge, commitment, and control
When things aren’t going well at work for any reason – perhaps your workload is growing, you’ve been given impossible deadlines, or things just aren’t going to plan – it’s important not to give in. While it’s easy to say ‘it can’t be done’, people who show the most resilience in these situations won’t simply give up and admit defeat or failure.
They’ll see the situation for what it is and move forward, rising to the challenge and looking for the most positive outcome. And ‘challenge’ is key. Perhaps they’ve failed at something before, but now look back at that failure and, learning from their mistakes, see it as an opportunity to grow and remove any negativity.
The most resilient people are also the ones who cherish commitment, both in work and outside of it. They are committed to everything they do, helping achieve their goals in every aspect of their lives, from work and career to their personal lives, friendships, and relationships. As this commitment runs so deeply, it’s an active element in the way they live.
At the heart of all resilience, however, is people’s ability to focus their precious time and energy on the things they can control. If any situation is outside of your own control – meaning you have no say on its outcome – any time spent worrying about that is wasted and will only add to feelings of helplessness or powerlessness.
Better then to put every effort into situations or events that you can control, giving yourself the self-empowerment and confidence you need to decide the outcome yourself.
Tips to improve your resilience
There is no definitive series of steps or processes to help build your resilience at work – what may be successful for some, may not be the best option for you. The key is to find methods and techniques that work for you, that you’re comfortable with and that fit with your personal outlook and vision.
These can all be small steps, practiced every day, that help you build up and improve your resilience. Keeping optimistic can be a good start. While you might naturally see the downside to a situation if it doesn’t work out how you intended, try turning it around, taking the positives and focusing on them.
Taking positive action is also good, not only for developing your resilience but for improving your confidence. Questioning things or doing something to change the situation for the better can help build faith in yourself and ratify your self-assurance. While the overall challenge may still remain, your sense of control will be boosted.
And take each problem as it comes along. Trying to pre-determine things that may or may not go wrong or cause problems can be a major obstacle to building your resilience. Try viewing any problem or difficulty as a learning process to help gain new skills you can use for the future.
Work stresses are a part of all our lives, but how you respond to them can play a major role in your professional and personal development. While you may not recognize a lack of resilience at work as being a stress-related or mental health issue, it will certainly contribute positively to your overall well being.
Help yourself to help others
If you’re a qualified counselor, there are many ways to help your clients increase their self-belief, build their resilience, and give them the power to succeed. Beyond your regular counselling sessions, and to tie in with International Stress Awareness Week, you could use your skills to offer some specific group or one to one coaching sessions on building resilience.
But if you’re new to counselling and looking to increase your knowledge and become a qualified and certified counselor, studying with Chrysalis courses can give you a great head start.
As the UK’s leading counselling course training provider with more than 20 years’ experience, every Chrysalis course is taught by experienced tutors. Accredited by the National Counselling Society and other professional bodies, their practical knowledge and training are second to none, so your counselling future is already in good hands.
Chrysalis cover all entry levels, and each course is created to be accessible to all, whatever your previous experience or qualifications. From a Level 4 Diploma introductory course to a Level 6 Higher Professional Diploma, each sets out a clear career progression path for you. And the right course is available in over 20 locations across the UK, so there’s a venue ready and waiting for you.
With classes running throughout the year (except July, August and late December), each part-time course meets for a full day per month on a weekend. And students also meet each other for arranged practice sessions on evenings or weekends.
Contact Chrysalis today
Chrysalis counselling training courses will help you achieve your own potential while helping others in a range of mental health issues, whatever area you decide to specialize in. For full details and more information and on all Chrysalis counselling training courses, visit our website today.
