Your Resiliency Toolkit: Finding Hope, Optimism, and Happiness

Shortly after employees vacated their offices, and the reality of work-from-home set in, I began working with corporate leaders to build resiliency and combat burnout. 

Throughout the pandemic, many of us have suffered from isolation, fatigue, anxiety, and burnout. So why should we be optimistic? Do we dare to use the word ‘hope’ while the world continues to battle the pandemic? Is it even possible to be happy again?

The answer is YES.

Hope and its counterpart, optimism, are choices we can make. Our attitudes and our actions may increase our happiness.  

Hope and optimism are the antidotes to the burnout we have all been experiencing. Research by psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky suggests that only 50% of our happiness is determined by immutable factors like our genes or temperament, our ‘set point.’ The other 50% is determined by a combination of our circumstances, over which we may have limited control, and our attitudes and actions, over which we have a great deal of control. According to Lyubomirsky, the three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing our happiness, are: our ability to reframe our situation more positively, our ability to experience gratitude, and our choice to be kind and generous. 

By adding some basic skills to our personal and professional resiliency toolkits, we can transform the way we look at our day, our work, our relationships, and most importantly, our future.

6 Skills to Add to Your Resiliency Toolkit

Visualize a positive future

Simply looking forward is powerful. Imagine what life will look like, both personally and professionally, when things normalize. Visualize what your days will be like, who you’ll reconnect with, where you will travel and how delicious that meal will taste at your favorite restaurant. Visualization is a powerful tool -- Olympic athletes build their training around it. It not only previews the joy you will experience, but also prepares you to hang in there through any unexpected bumps along the road.

Be kind to yourself 

Dr. Kristen Neff, researcher and self-compassion expert, emphasizes the importance of being kind to yourself, especially in times of difficulty. She encourages people to repeat the following phrases when something goes wrong in life:

This is a moment of suffering

Suffering is part of life

May I be kind to myself in this moment

May I give myself the compassion I need.

Remember to be kind to yourself, and remind yourself that these are very difficult times, but they will end.

Prioritize your basic needs

Typically, self-care is the first casualty for people overwhelmed with work. Homeschooling, new schedules, health concerns, news overload — the list of obstacles to self-care is long. 

However, prioritizing the four keys to self-care will make a world of difference. Prioritize sleep, nutrition, exercise, and at least 10 minutes of calm and centering each day. Mark your calendar during the day to remind yourself to take micro-breaks, and try not to reschedule those breaks.

Find a new perspective

One key aspect of cultivating resiliency is the ability to reframe your perspective. According to wellbeing leader and advocate, Mabeth Hudson, J.D., M.A., “this involves pausing to take a step back from a challenging situation to look at it from a wider view.” How can you look at your situation differently? For example, what impact will this have on you: in one week, in one year, and in 10 years?

Express gratitude

The ‘attitude of gratitude’ has been touted as a remedy to our current crisis for good reason. Research from Dr. Martin Seligman, Director of the Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania, shows long-term effects after six months of keeping a gratitude journal or gratitude practice. Positive effects include increased happiness, decreased depression, improved sleep, and feeling open and touched by the world.

Be kind and generous

People lose sight of the help and hope they actually give to others. Spiritual wellness coach Mabeth Hudson suggests asking, “How am I serving others in this time and place, in order to cultivate purpose, hope, and meaning?” The desire to do good, give back, and spread joy, as a way to improve our own happiness, is an ongoing conversation in my coaching sessions. 

Resiliency is the capacity to recover quickly.

When we focus on elements that are within our control, we change the dynamic of stress and burnout. When we acknowledge and celebrate how we have managed difficult situations, we bring healthy energy forward. When we put this past year and the pandemic in a historical context, we realize that even terrible things do end and that we will experience joy, once again.

Laura Martin is an executive, leadership, and resiliency coach. She provides clients with forward-thinking, solutions-based coaching to navigate obstacles, build resiliency, lead teams, and balance work-life challenges. Learn more about Laura and Simply Forward Coaching.