Resilience Trumps Grit for Workplace Success

In today's global, hyperconnected world, many people believe that to succeed in their careers, they must take on overwhelming amounts of work and be constantly available. However, pushing yourself too hard for too long often leads to burnout. A survey by Deloitte found that more than three-quarters of workers have experienced burnout, and high levels of stress at work are responsible for an estimated 120,000 deaths each year.

Organizations often concentrate on aiding employees to recover from workplace burnout. However, the real necessity is to educate their people on how to avoid it altogether. This objective requires learning methods to develop personal and professional resilience.

Prevent burnout with five strategies

To avoid burnout, practice "personal PULSE" strategies—ways to strengthen your inner strength. Remember to Pace yourself, change unhelpful thought patterns, engage in Leisure activities, create a Support system, and Evaluate how you use your time. These practices will boost your skills in five key areas of your life:

1. Behavioral: Improve both your professional and personal growth by maintaining a healthy pace of performance.
2. Cognitive: Get rid of unhealthy thought patterns that may be holding you back.
3. Physical: Use leisure activities to protect and restore your energy reserves.
4. Social: Build a diverse social support network to enhance adaptability and improve your decision-making.
5. Emotional: Take control of your priorities and time, and evaluate your efforts to maintain self-control.

Maintain a sustainable work rhythm

People often idealize successful individuals, thinking they are fundamentally different from the rest of us. For instance, many assume J.K. Rowling achieved instant success with her Harry Potter series. However, she spent seven years working on the first book and faced rejections from twelve publishers. Most successful people achieve their dreams through "deliberate practice": breaking down their goals into smaller steps to prevent mental and emotional exhaustion.

To ensure you steadily work toward your goals, use the "three P’s":

1. Plan: Start by evaluating your skills and knowledge. Then, gradually step out of your comfort zone as you work toward larger goals. Make sure your goals are practical, achievable, and clear.
2. Practice: Commit to continuous learning. Think of your learning process as a series of experiments. Seek feedback and approach your experiments with focus. Don’t be afraid to fail; you can learn from it. Keep a log and regularly track your progress and what you've learned.
3. Ponder: Once you've experimented and received feedback, use that knowledge to help achieve your bigger goals. Improve your strategies based on what worked and what didn't. Celebrate your small successes along the way to achieving your goals.

Achieve clear thinking by eliminating distractions

To clear your mind and reduce distractions, focus on the “three C’s” of mental clarity:

1. Curiosity:  Be curious about your thoughts. Identify recurring ones and question if they're based on reality. Finding evidence to support your assumptions helps you understand your thinking better.
2. Compassion: Combat negative self-talk by being kind to yourself. Instead of dwelling on flaws, speak to yourself as you would to a close friend.
3. Calibration:  Once you understand your thought patterns and have a realistic view of a situation, decide how you want to respond. This might mean acting with compassion or realizing you need more information.

Here's how to enhance your mental clarity and awareness:

• Build Better Habits: If you want to adopt healthier habits, try pairing them with routines you already do often, like brushing your teeth.
• Set Reminders: Set alarms on your phone to prompt you to check in with yourself three times a day, giving you time to think about your thoughts.
• Deep Breathing: Take deep breaths before reflecting, breathing in and out slowly.
• Journaling Thoughts: While practicing the "three C's," write a sentence or two about each step.
• Understand Cognitive Mistakes: People make common errors in thinking. For example, are you thinking of extremes? Are you assuming what others are thinking?
• Practice Self-Compassion: Being kind to yourself might feel strange at first, but research shows it has positive effects: more resilience, motivation, positive feelings, and less feeling overwhelmed.
• Stay Consistent: Regularly practicing the "three C's" can change your brain's pathways and improve your energy.

Make leisure time a priority

Oprah Winfrey, a media mogul, might always be busy, but she takes time to unwind from work and spend time outdoors – walking her dogs and tending her vegetable garden. This leisure time is crucial for Oprah. It helps her stay calm and focused, which makes it easier for her to deal with the challenges that come her way.

If you want to prevent burnout and improve your leadership skills, you should also prioritize leisure. Forget the idea that working longer and harder is the key to success.

Make more room for relaxing activities by focusing on the "three S's" in your daily life:

1. Silence: Take control of how you use technology. Cut down on mental fatigue caused by a constant flow of information and alerts. Start small, like not checking your phone in line, and consider bigger steps, like going on a meditation retreat.
2. Sanctuary: Most people spend 93% of their time indoors. This is a problem because spending time in nature lowers the stress hormone cortisol, lifts your mood, boosts creativity, strengthens immunity, and increases vitality. Schedule 20 to 30 minutes outdoors each week and try to leave your devices at home.
3. Solitude:  Opt to spend time alone. This activates your brain's default mode network, which enhances cognitive abilities by slowing sensory input. Solitude can lead to greater self-awareness, creativity, and mental clarity.

Enhance your social health

Feeling connected and supported by your community is vital for good health. When you're socially excluded, your brain reacts similarly to physical pain, activating regions such as the insula and anterior cingulate cortex. Studies indicate that workers who feel ostracized are less satisfied and committed to their jobs and experience more physical distress, such as headaches, muscle tension, and back pain. Conversely, those who feel a strong sense of belonging perform 56% better, take 75% fewer sick days, and are 50% more likely to stay in their current jobs.

To reduce burnout and overcome feelings of being left out, focus on three key supports:

1. Belonging: Boost your sense of belonging by being more compassionate. Understand others’ views, empathize with them, and take action to help. Regularly practicing loving-kindness meditation strengthens your social well-being.
2. Breadth: Map out your support system with four circles: close friends in the innermost, consistent supporters in the next, regular contacts in the third, and acquaintances in the outer circle. Notice where you lack support and expand your network by joining new communities or changing your social routines.
3. Boundaries: Reflect on your values and priorities, then set boundaries accordingly. Identify the top five values and decide how to promote them while avoiding actions that go against them. Respect others’ boundaries as you expect them to respect yours.

Guard your energy, live with purpose

To overcome the misconception that "expending more effort is always better," and to effectively manage your energy, adopt the "three E’s":

1. Enduring principles:  Identify what matters most to you and the skills you have to achieve your goals. Craft a mission statement using this template: "Because I value X, I want to use my skills of Y to accomplish Z." Then, establish three guiding principles, like "practice gratitude," to keep you aligned with your mission.
2. Energy Assessment:  Track your activities, interactions, and surroundings for a week. Rate how they make you feel on a scale of 1 to 10. If something drains your energy, limit your exposure and seek out things that recharge you. Healthy relationships should leave you feeling positive, with trust and support.
3. Emotional Intelligence:  Don't brush aside your emotions or fake being positive. Let yourself feel everything, as it helps you understand others better and solve problems effectively. Improve your emotional vocabulary by learning a new emotion word each week. Treat your emotions as valuable signals guiding your actions.

Promote strong teams through empowerment, kindness, and unity

To lead strong teams, focus on creating a workplace where people come first. Use the "ABCs of Steady Pulse Teams And Organizations" to guide your efforts.

1. A is for  Agency: Make sure each team member knows what’s expected of them, in ways both clear and hidden. Don’t give them too much work, or demands they can’t handle. Let them grow professionally and personally.
2. B is for Benevolence: Make a promise to not harm. Use rules based on openness, trust, and fairness at work. Praise workers for doing well, and don’t accept lying or being unfair.
3. C is for Community: People work better if they feel they are part of a group. Use practices that make team members feel like they fit in and are safe.

Leaders who prioritize their employees must dedicate themselves to adopting practices that enhance resilience throughout their organizations. Utilize design thinking to continuously improve your team's experience. Identify areas that require enhancement, create solutions to strengthen resilience, and implement them through closely monitored wellness programs.