Develop your resilience and keep winning

Mankind has moved at a rapid pace with time, so much so that what looked impossible a few years ago, looks very much possible now or at least in the next few years. From auto driven cars on the road to flying cars in the sky to controlling your gadgets at home while you are in office…everything is now possible. This drive from impossible to possible at a frantic speed also has its pitfalls. While some new things are developing, the old ones are becoming obsolete at a hitherto unknown pace. We, the people are confused in this chaos. Sometimes we are hopeful and sometimes we feel lost. 

Technology has gone far ahead of what is currently being taught in schools and colleges. Scholars have accepted that the things being taught are so back dated that students learning them, will be in a profession which would be completely different. While that has become a foregone conclusion, what happens to those people who are in the middle of their professional careers?

Job requirements are changing and so is the job description. Many of our friends, colleagues and close ones are losing their old stable jobs across the globe. But it is interesting to note that in these so-called chaotic times, there are many others who are finding excellent opportunities to grow, some willingly and some accidentally. All of us have heard similar stories of how a professional lost his job and bounced back quickly to become even more successful in their line of work. Take the example of Anirban (name changed), who was an IIT alumni. He came back from overseas and started teaching engineering aspirants. He had always loved teaching but had got an excellent job through campus hiring post his graduation from a premier engineering college. When his company was going through retrenchment, he chose to leave the job and do what he had always wanted to do. His degree combined with his past job experience proved to be a boon and soon he started a successful coaching center. Many others like him have since trodden the same path by either joining these type of institutes as teachers or opening up their own small business.  There are innumerable examples of people who have become immensely successful even after facing rejections at work place. Steve Jobs lost his job at Apple, Mayor Michael Bloomberg used his severance cheque to start his own company and back home Amitabh Bachchan was rejected as an actor due to his height and voice. History has proved that people can and will always win against adversities if they want to.

Researchers believe that there are people who not only survive but thrive in chaos. The common behavioral trait that is clearly in abundance in these people is – resilience. It is the one key for success which is present in some people and completely absent in others. The good news is, we can develop resilience by using the following methods:

1) Build flexibility in behavior – Failure for these people is just an opportunity to learn a new lesson. They unlearn the old methods, learn new things, adapt, evolve and move on quickly.

2) Try to find opportunity in chaos – Resilient people don’t have any aversion to chaos. They seek out opportunities in chaotic situations.

3) Be happy – By being happy, they bring in positivity in the environment. Happy and positive people are emotionally more balanced and productive.

4) Don’t take the stress and don’t give stress – These people don’t get stressed under any situation and because they don’t get stressed, they are in better control of any situation. This, in turn, makes them more focused and better decision makers.

5) Be the change – Resilient people often seek out change and start working out early on. They may not be successful in their first attempt but what sets them apart is their willingness to work on new and unknown things. 

Many of the small and big organizations are also trying to handle the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world in a very constructive way. Some of them have started a huge awareness campaign on why people need to relook at their current profiles and map them with future possibilities. They have started giving training and upskilling opportunities to their current set of employees while they themselves are also getting ready for the change. Some of these training are mandated, while the others are optional. There is a lot of emphasis on learning agility i.e., to propagate a culture of continuous ‘unlearning the old’ and ‘learning the new’.

Finally, we all know that there may be times when you may feel that you can’t keep up with the changes around you and things are spiraling out of control. In these situations, one should be able to accept minor or temporary setbacks and bounce back as soon as possible. Behavioural changes take time and one should not lose hope. Take one small step at a time and change the game. If you feel that you are in control, then you are the ultimate winner. Be resilient and keep winning!