“RESILIENCE”- A MUST LEARN FOR MBA ASPIRANTS

res-org-diagramAre you ready to face failure? Frankly, most students who join an MBA class aren’t ready to deal with failure. If you know about the Duck Syndrome you will understand the line below:

An MBA students has to be like a duck in water. On the surface a duck appears calm, moving smoothly and effortlessly while the water surface is undisturbed….but below the surface, only the duck knows how hard ithas to paddle to stay afloat.

The desire to look effortless can be a problem for many people. I’ve met people who deal with depression, are not able to handle stress and pressure, view failure as obstacles, have negative thoughts, are deterred by challenges thrown by life, give up on difficult situations and so on. Many react to such situations with strong emotions and a sense of uncertainty. You people can also face your life challenging situations to.

Are you thinking how?

With the “POWER OF RESILIENCE”

This blogaims to guide MBA Aspirantsor anyone taking their own road to resilience. Topics covered describe resilience and elements that distress people and how they can deal with adversity. However, the major focus is on developing and using a personal strategy for enhancing resilience.

WHAT IS RESILIENCE?

The process of adjusting ourselves in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or substantial stress. —in simple terms “bouncing back” from challenging experiences.

Resilience is absolutely normal – nothing extraordinary. In our daily lives people demonstrate resilience on a regular basis. One of the recent examples is the response of Indians staying in Nepal after the earthquake in April 25, 2015 and their efforts to re-establish their lives.

Resilience means facing difficulties with audacity and persistence – denying giving up. It is the kind of personality that allows a person to recover from misfortunes, adversities, disturbances and so on.

Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn’t experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common in. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress. People with the ability to be resilientoften discoverunexpected reserves of strengths in difficult times and improve confidence by overcoming hardship. Resilience can lead to an intensely satisfying life.

Resilience involves behaviors, feelings and movements that can be developed by any individual.

 ASPECTS of RESILIENCE

Many factors come together to contribute to resilience. It is usually seen that a supportive relationship plays an important role in bolstering resilience as it offers encouragement and reassurance.

Otheraspectsthat are associated with resilience:

  • Ability to devisea realistic plan and execute it
  • Optimistic view about oneself
  • Self-reliance in one’sstrengths and capabilities
  • Good communication and problem solving skills
  • Able to manage strong approaches and desires.

All of these are some of the aspects that you can develop.

TACTICSFOR DEVELOPING RESILIENCE WITHING YOURSELF

Developing resilience is a personalexpedition. We don’t have the same reactions to different stressful life events. Tactics for developing resilience that work for one individualmay or may not work for another.

With rising cultural diversity, individuals havesuperior access to a number of different tactics to develop resilience.

10 WAYS TO DEVELOP RESILIENCE

As a part of your own personal strategy, you have to identify ways that are likely to work well for you for fostering resilience. Here are 10 ways to develop your resilience:

  • Realize that change is the only constant thing in life
  • Create and maintainnetworks
  • Focus on your goals
  • Foster an optimistic view of yourself
  • Keep things in perspective
  • Maintain an expectant outlook
  • Opportunities for self-discovery is important
  • Stop seeing crises as irresistible problems
  • Take decisive actions
  • Learn from your past
  • Follow any hobby that can distress you like reading, meditation, spiritual practices and so on

FLEXIBILITY IS IMPORTANT

As you deal with stressful situation and events, it is important that resilience comprises sustaining flexibility and balance in your life. This happens in several ways, including:

  • Allowing yourself to understand and cope with strong emotions
  • Able to handle the emotions at times in order to continue working
  • Take a front seat and deal with your problems
  • Look forward to the daily living demands
  • Step backward to relax and reboot yourself.
  • Spending time with friends and family
  • Encouraging yourself
  • Having faith in you and others

SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK

There are some questions that you can ask yourself about you and your reactions to stressful life events, which can help you discover your response to difficult situations in your life. Learning from the past events and focusing on your strengths can help you learn and discover resilience that might work for you.

  • What events stress me the most?
  • How have events affected me?
  • Do I have important people in my life who are there when I am distressed?
  • Do I have any support?
  • During difficult times, what have I learned about me and my interactions?
  • If someone has similar stressful events, can I assist them?
  • Was I able to overcome obstacles, and if yes, how?
  • Reason I am more hopeful about the future?

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

  • Resilience is a trait: Answer is NO. Resilience is not a trait. It is a capability that can be learned by and developed in anyone.
  • Healthy families don’t have problems: Remember every family has problems. Handling the problems is different for different people. Some have financial while some have emotional problems.
  • Resilient people are independent, tough, and self-reliant; they don’t need much from other people: Not true really – Individuals with resilient quality are practical, have strong social networks, discuss their troubles withtheir close ones,and ask for help when they need it and so on.
  • Resilient people are immune to stress and negative emotions: Somewhat Yes – Only difference is they have more positive emotions like gratitude, joy, kindness, love, andare able to find meaning and purpose for their lives.
  • Adversity makes people stronger: Answer is NO – It is the process of struggling, learning, and persevering that makes an individual strong and not the adversity.

 

To help summarize below are few beautiful lines by Mike Norton:

“Never say that you can’t do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can’t be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible.

Master yourself, and become king of the world around you. Let no odds, chastisement, exile, doubt, fear, or ANY mental virii (virus) prevent you from accomplishing your dreams. Never be a victim of life; be its conqueror.”

The only thing in life that we need to learn is to offer gratitude, happiness, positive attitude towards others. Resilience comes along with lots of other life changing components. It is a practice. Do you think that you have got few qualities mentioned in this article? If yes, then you are on the right track, If no change yourself and get going.

Contributed by Sidhartha Mohanty (Class of 2005, IBS Ahemedabad)

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