Resilience Day 4

Resilience – How Can We Cultivate Resiliency (Day 4)

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Resilience Day 4

How Can We Cultivate Resiliency?

Part 1: Start With Yourself

We have learned two main things from researching and speaking with individuals on the topic of resiliency:

  1. Resiliency is important and is widely recognized as an essential personal quality
  2. Not enough is being done in colleges or the workplace to help people develop a resilient mindset

This brings us to our main question- how? How do we cultivate resiliency? We have broken this down into two parts. In this post, we discuss how we can develop resiliency in ourselves and in the next and final post, we discuss how resiliency can be cultivated in colleges and the workplace.

Why You Should Start With Yourself

Resilience enables us to develop techniques that allow us to overcome challenges and adversity (link: https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellor-articles/the-importance-of-building-resilience)   We should focus on starting with ourselves because we are most in-tune with what our stressors are and what works best for us to handle those situations. There are several types of resilience that exist in ourselves:

  • Inherent resilience- natural resilience we are born with
  • Adapted resilience- resilience that appears are different stages of our lives and that is activated through difficult experiences in our lives e.g. being laid off, end of a relationship etc.
  • Learnt resilience- resilience that is built up over time and that we learn to activate through difficult experiences. We draw from this when we need, and we can continue to develop this.

We should be focused on building our learnt resilience. Below are some tips on how you can do this.

10 Ways You Can Build Resilience

These tips are based on the book, ‘Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges’ by Dennis Charney and Steven Southwick. Their book presents 10 factors that can help anyone become more resilient. These factors are based on research and true stories of individuals that have overcome extraordinary odds. (Link: https://news.yale.edu/2018/05/03/resilience-science-mastering-lifes-greatest-challenges)

  1. Build Optimism: This is traits based and situational but the idea is to focus on positive things around you and to reframe all negative thoughts. Identify what makes you happy and brings positivity in you and engage in altruistic pursuits.
  2. Redefine Fear: Fear is an opportunity and a certain amount of fear is adaptive. The unknown is what causes us to fear but we need to understand that fear is ubiquitous, and no one escapes its grip. The best way around fear is through it and to conquer fear, one must face fear.
  3. Value System: Strong ethics and altruism are strong pillars of a value system. Aristotle wrote in his book, “Nicomachean Ethics,” that we become by doing just acts. The idea is that the more we do something we know is right, the more we develop moral courage.
  4. Draw On Your Faith: Our faith whether religious or otherwise helps us be mindful and divert our thoughts to something bigger than ourselves. As written in the Bhagavat Gita, “The mind is restless, turbulent, violent and trying to control the mind is like trying to control the wind.” Prayer and faith teaches us to use our minds better than letting our minds use us.
  5. Social Support: Reach out to your family and friends during stressful situations and give back as much as you can. Find networks where you can meet like-minded people to build the support network you need.
  6. Identify a Role Model: Who do you admire? What do they do right? Who do you consider a negative role model? Observe the people around you and figure out what you people believe do well and people don’t to adopt to your personal behavior when handling stress.
  7. Train Your Brain: Train your brain to accept new challenges and consider a learning opportunity.
  8. Sleep Enough: Improper sleep habits can lead to various mental health issues can contribute to a lack of resiliency. (Link: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health)
  9. Enhance Cognitive & Emotional Flexibility: Developing these skills allow us to accept change as the only constant in our lives and allows us to accept difficult situations which makes us move on faster.
  10. Find Your Purpose: Identifying meaning in your life is a sign of growth and helps you keep grounded.

Here are some additional resources you can use in your path to increased resilience!

About the Author:

Roshni Ramaswamy has recently graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a proud mentee of the WINGS Signature Program. She is a Project Engineer at Environmental Planning Specialists. She enjoys sharing her perspectives on mentoring, resilience, academic life, professional development among a myriad other topics. Follow Roshni at the link shared for her viewpoints.

Resiliency: The Professional Take (Day 3)

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Resilience Day 3

“Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up.” – Mary Holloway

In this post, we showcase interviews we conducted with professionals of various ages and backgrounds to understand what resiliency means to the working professional. As before, our interviewees are anonymous.

Interview 1: Male professional, Manager in Imports & Exports Industry

Q: In a brief sentence, explain what resiliency means to you.

A: Resiliency means overcoming challenges and to move forward from them.

Q: On a scale of 1-10, how often do you experience stress at your job? Would your colleagues agree?

A: I rate 8 out of 10. My job is quite stressful as it involves working with company management and customers directly and I have to manage all of those relationships. I think I experience more stress than my colleagues because of my role.

Q: Can you describe a stressful situation you experienced at work? How did you cope? How do you cope with daily stress?

A: We had some terrible miscommunication with a customer and it fell on my shoulders to mend the relationship and to enjoy the orders that were placed went through. It was a time sensitive situation that became very stressful as there was pressure from all sides. I spoke to colleagues to gain clarity and to identify a plan to manage the situation. I also referred to my boss for advice. I like to unwind by watching TV or movies and to read.

Q: Do you believe your boss or management understands the stress you go through at work? Have they ever helped with stressful situations?

A: I think my boss understands there are difficult times at work but that is rarely discussed with me. There is an expectation that I need to get the work done no matter what and I have not been extended help or support many times. I think this is a place for improvement.

Q: Has resiliency been a topic of discussion at your workplace? Do you think it is important?

A: Resiliency has come up at my office but because I am a manager it is expected of me that I should be able to handle everything and that I should be able to take on the emotional stress that my team faces. I think resiliency is very important, especially at the management level. I believe it is assumed that managers don’t feel stress and its effects but that is false and more support needs to be provided to management.

Q: Do you think enough is being done to foster resiliency in employees? If not, what can be done?

A: No. There are several ways resiliency can be fostered in employees such as:

  • Encouraging interaction at work and cultivating a team spirit
  • Not allowing things to develop out of control
  • Encouraging learning by experience rather than reprimanding employees
  • Celebrating successful outcomes to boost morale
  • Mentoring employees to build effective communication and stress-management techniques
  • Encouraging relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation and to promote overall well-being

Interview 2: Female professional, English Teacher at an Elementary School

Q: In a brief sentence, explain what resiliency means to you.

A: Resiliency means to bounce back in the face of challenges and adversity.

Q: On a scale of 1-10, how often do you experience stress at your job? Would your colleagues agree?

A: I would rate a 6 on that scale normally. There are times in the year that are more stressful than others, especially when it comes to preparing for exams or grading projects and assignments. I think my colleagues would agree with my assessment, though I think they experience additional stress due to varying job roles.

Q: Can you describe a stressful situation you experienced at work? How did you cope? How do you cope with daily stress?

A: I have had many stressful experiences at work. One incident that comes to mind is when I was asked to prepare a group of students for a public performance at short notice. I was entrusted with complete planning, organizing and execution. The expectations of the performance and outcome caused me anxiety and stress and I had a couple of sleepless nights. To cope, I tried to remain as positive as possible and over-prepared so nothing would be left to chance. I meditate and turn to religion to cope with daily stress.

Q: Do you believe your boss or management understands the stress you go through at work? Have they ever helped with stressful situations?

A: It depends on the person, one of my bosses is more understanding than the other. I believe it is because she started in the role I am in now. However, I think ultimately it comes down to delivering results and keeping our students and parents happy which can take a toll on teachers. Some members of the management team try to be understanding of deadlines and stressful periods during the year but we still get tasks piled on us last minute.

Q: Has resiliency been a topic of discussion at your workplace? Do you think it is important?

A: Yes, stress and resilience has been something I have discussed in the workplace. Usually when I am faced with a stressful situation, I go to my colleagues for emotional support and encouragement. This helps me adapt and stay positive. Resiliency is a very important quality to ensure we bounce back from obstacles.

Q: Do you think enough is being done to foster resiliency in employees? If not, what can be done?

A: I think more can be done to foster resiliency in the workplace. Employers have a responsibility to foster resiliency in the workplace by understanding their employees’ needs and mental state and by encouraging employees through difficult times.

Interview 3: Female professional, Engineer

Q: In a brief sentence, explain what resiliency means to you.

A: To me, it means sticking around during difficult situation.

Q: On a scale of 1-10, how often do you experience stress at your job? Would your colleagues agree?

A: I would say typically 6/10. My colleagues would definitely agree with that assessment- we get a pretty fair share of workload. There are times in the year that are more stressful than normal.

Q: Can you describe a stressful situation you experienced at work? How did you cope? How do you cope with daily stress?

A: One of my ex-managers did not know how to properly train new employees and humiliated us often. What helped me through that situation was having other wonderful managers that balanced the stress and had a better understanding of us as employees and individuals. I used to pray to deal with daily stress but don’t anymore. I struggle to cope with daily stress now.

Q: Do you believe your boss or management understands the stress you go through at work? Have they ever helped with stressful situations?

A: Yes, I believe the management at my workplace does. I once went to my boss regarding the ex-manager I mentioned earlier and how difficult it was to work with them. My boss explained to me that different people have different working styles and that put things in perspective for me. No one is perfect and I learned to adapt once I understood that.

Q: Has resiliency been a topic of discussion at your workplace? Do you think it is important?

A: Yes it has come up. What I mean is that my colleagues and I have discussed difficult situations we have been in and have encouraged each other to stick through it. I am not entirely sure if resiliency is important.

Q: Do you think enough is being done to foster resiliency in employees? If not, what can be done?

A: Yes, I think so. The managers at my workplace try to keep us motivated by giving us promotions, pay raises and mentorship. We also tend to have a close relationship with the managers so that allows them to gauge our stress levels and they are understanding if work needs to be reshuffled.

Main Takeaways:

  • As with the student group, employees are well versed in what resiliency means and most agree it is important both for personal well-being and especially in the workplace.
  • Employees tend to experience stress that is greater than a moderate level of stress which can be considered 5/10 on our scale. Stress levels increase with experience and that is observed in industry as well and can impact management style. (link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2016/10/12/how-you-handle-stress-is-a-key-to-management-success/#4cd1e88826d1)
  • Stress at work originates from several sources including sudden changes in job role or task, managing client relations or poor management. It goes to show that stress can be universal in every job and level.
  • Bosses and management need to do a better job at managing employees’ stress and fostering a resilient mindset. Some employees believed their management were doing a good job but the majority believed more could be done. Empathy and awareness from management can lead to a greater understanding of employees and their workloads thereby bringing resiliency to the workplace.
  • Resiliency is a topic of discussion at the workplace. Employees manage stress by engaging in personal activities or by turning to religion and meditation. Only some employees believed their management was successful at helping them cope with stress.

About the Author:

Roshni Ramaswamy has recently graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a proud mentee of the WINGS Signature Program. She is a Project Engineer at Environmental Planning Specialists. She enjoys sharing her perspectives on mentoring, resilience, academic life, professional development among a myriad other topics. Follow Roshni at the link shared for her viewpoints.

Resilience Day two

Resiliency – Voice of the Students (Day 2)

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 Resilience Day two

 

SUCCESS IS NOT FINAL, FAILURE IS NOT FATAL. IT IS THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE THAT COUNTS.

Winston S. Churchill

Before we dive into all the reasons why resiliency is important and how we can cultivate a resilient mindset, let’s put into context what resiliency is. To better understand, we have interviewed two groups of people- college students and working professionals. In this post we our main takeaways and the full interviews with college students. Enjoy!

Resiliency: Through the Eyes of College Students

We interviewed three college students from entirely different colleges and backgrounds. They will remain anonymous in this post. Below are the full interviews.

Interview 1:

Interviewee Profile: Female student, Bachelors Degree in Law from University of Edinburgh

Q: In a brief sentence, explain what resiliency means to you.

A: Resiliency is not giving up in the face of repeated and constant failure.

Q: Describe a time that was particularly stressful in college. What happened? Why was it stressful?

A:  During my 3rd year in college I had to manage applying to jobs with my normal class workload. In the beginning, I felt unable to give my all to both and I felt lost in the mountains of tasks I had to do, causing me to experience a significant amount of stress.

Q:  How did you cope with that stressful time? What techniques do you use to cope with daily stress?

A: I went to lot of career counseling to cope with that stress and to see what I could do to manage my time more effectively. To cope with daily stress I try to take one thing at a time, prioritize tasks, keep busy, and definitely meditate everyday.

Q: Did you find career counseling useful in helping you manage your stress?

A: It was helpful, having a professional walk you through techniques you can use is definitely useful. It does get difficult when counselors are spread thin because they need to cater to so many students though.

Q: Have you had conversation with colleagues/friends on the topic of resiliency?

A: I have had numerous conversations with friends about resilience as some of them felt overwhelmed in that space too. It helped to know I was not alone.

Q: Do you think resiliency is important? Why? Or why not?

A: It is important, you need to be able to accept failure as a mere obstacle, learn from it, and move forward positively instead of it becoming an absolute block in achieving your goals. Life never works in your favor all the time and the ability to recognize that and keep trying is very important.

Q: Do you think enough is being done to foster resiliency in colleges? If not, what do you think can be done to cultivate a resilient mindset in students?

A: I do not think enough is done to foster resilience in college. There needs to be more seminars and talks about how to manage your time effectively. I feel there is just an expectation that all students will know how to cope and adapt, but that is not the case. In my experience, law is a very competitive degree and there is the attitude that every person is looking out for themselves. It is easy to feel lonely and that you are not doing compared to your competition and that mindset just fosters stress and anxiety instead of resilience.

Interview 2:

Male student, Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology

Q: In a brief sentence, explain what resiliency means to you.

A: The ability to stand back up and return to a positive mental state when you face a major difficulty.

Q: Describe a time that was particularly stressful in college. What happened? Why was it stressful?

A:  I failed my first test for my CS1331 class in my freshman year and made a C in the class. It was stressful because it made me question whether I was cut out for the field or the school.

Q:  How did you cope with that stressful time? What techniques do you use to cope with daily stress?

A: Socializing with friends and just studying the material longer and harder. Telling myself I failed that test not because of incompetence but a lack of preparation and experience.

Q: Have you had conversation with colleagues/friends on the topic of resiliency?

A: Yes it is a topic that has come up before.

Q: Do you think resiliency is important? Why? Or why not?

A: Yes, I think resiliency is more important than IQ or talent because everyone gets knocked down from time to time. It is not necessarily the smartest that get to the top but often the most resilient.

Q: Is there someone you look up to because of their resilience? Why?

A: I look up to Steve Jobs.  He got kicked out of his own company, made a competing company called Next which got acquired by Apple and eventually became CEO of Apple again. I think his story is very inspiring.

Q: Do you think enough is being done to foster resiliency in colleges? If not, what do you think can be done to cultivate a resilient mindset in students?

A: No, I don’t think enough is being done especially since there are some majors that are not capped and that have difficult weed out courses. In my opinion, having deliberate obstacles like that does not encourage resiliency. I reflect often on the Japanese proverb, “Fall down seven times, get up eight”. We should put that up somewhere on campus as a daily reminder.

Interview 3:

Female student, Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Georgia Institute of Technology

Q: In a brief sentence, explain what resiliency means to you.

A: I think resiliency means to fight against a difficult situation to get better.

Q: Describe a time that was particularly stressful in college. What happened? Why was it stressful?

A: I transferred in from another college and my first semester at Tech was super stressful. I didn’t know anyone and I found the teaching style and curriculum difficult compared to my previous college. In a nut shell, adjusting to a new environment was super stressful.

Q:  How did you cope with that stressful time? What techniques do you use to cope with daily stress?

A: I tried to meet as many people as I could and had one-on-one meeting with professors to help me through my classes. Now, I try to stay as positive as I can anytime I am faced with challenges.

Q: Have you had conversation with colleagues/friends on the topic of resiliency?

A: This has not been a topic that has come up with people. A lot of people I talked with did not really care about this.

Q: Do you think resiliency is important? Why? Or why not?

A: I think resiliency is very important because everyone goes through a tough time or situation. If you don’t know how to handle and cope with the situation, you might feel trapped and unable to move on.

Q: Do you think enough is being done to foster resiliency in colleges? If not, what do you think can be done to cultivate a resilient mindset in students?

A: No, not at all. I think resiliency needs to come from student organizations that can influence students. For example, fraternities and sororities can host events on this topic to reach a larger audience. Similarly, classes such as GT1000 (introductory freshman classes) can be focused on this topic to help guide freshman as they acclimate to college life.

Main Takeaways:

  • Students understand what resiliency is and are able to articulate it. Their definitions are similar to psychology definitions that define resiliency as the ability to cope and adapt to stressful situations and to bounce back from those situations.
  • Techniques that students use to cope with stress include socializing, seeking community, counseling, sharing experiences with confidants and meditating. All of these are experiences or environments that students actively seek and were not solutions initiated by colleges.
  • All students agreed that resiliency is very important. Some have had conversations about resiliency with friends and others have not. Raising awareness and fostering conversations on this topic is an area of improvement in the college environment.
  • All students believed their colleges were not doing enough to foster a resilient mindset in students. Some believed the structure of classes and college environment made learning stressful to the point that failure was not a viable option as it prevented students from learning that failure is part of life and something to learn from.
  • Possible solutions that can be implemented in colleges are talks or seminars on the topic of resilience that both highlight its importance and ways to build it within ourselves. The involvement of student organizations is a potential way to reach a large audience and to influence the way students think across the board.

This Blog post is a second part of the five part blog series. Read part one here.

About the Author:

Roshni Ramaswamy has recently graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a proud mentee of the WINGS Signature Program. She is a Project Engineer at Environmental Planning Specialists. She enjoys sharing her perspectives on mentoring, resilience, academic life, professional development among a myriad other topics. Follow Roshni at the link shared for her viewpoints.

Achieve Balance in Success

Dance is a Hobby, Career or Business? Part Four

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Artists – Developing A Support System

Achieve Balance in Success

As we continue thinking about the performing arts industry, we decided to dig a little deeper. After all, there are successful artists out there who no doubt have found a way to create structure and cultivate collaboration, camaraderie, and mentorship within their network. There are artists who have succeeded against all odds – and if they can do, so can you!

We’ll note just a few remarkable examples here to highlight the success stories of artists who have faced their struggles head on!

On emotional and mental health…

  • Charlie Chaplin struggled with not one, but several issues throughout his life – such as poverty, emotional instability, and lack of familial support. Once he made his way to Hollywood, it took him quite a while to be taken seriously – but we’re glad he didn’t give up, because he is now the greatest silent-film actor to have ever lived!

On staying true to message…

  • On authenticity and keeping it real, who better to look to than Lady Gaga? This famous singer was continuously ridiculed for her style of music and sense of fashion prior to making it in the industry. She was repeatedly asked to drop her provocative, eccentric ways – however, she stuck her ground and didn’t budge. Lady Gaga knew that she had to do what felt good – her gut instincts proved to be right!

On mentorship…

  • Did you know that the renowned author and poet Maya Angelou served as guidance for Oprah Winfrey throughout many crucial years of her life? It goes without saying that these are two hugely recognizable names within the industry – and although Oprah is no doubt talented, guidance from Maya Angelou must have been inspirational and humbling on many levels.
  • Musician Ray Charles provided his wisdom and guidance to the legendary Quincy Jones. He has said that it made him extremely happy to pay It forward and help someone – and in turn, Quincy Jones has mentored a number of budding young musicians himself!

These heartwarming stories are a great example of artists who have overcome all odds and made a mark in their respective fields.

Want to read more? Read the Part One, Part Two, and Part Three of the Five part blog series

About the author

This blog was written for WINGS by Ruby Verma. Ruby Verma started out her career working in Private Equity valuations for 9 years. She then made a career switch over to the arts! She now works as a dancer and a writer in the greater NYC area. Ruby is an artistic director at Junoon Performing Arts. Follow Ruby on Instagram or Medium and share her expression of thoughts and words through her posts as a passionate artist.