Five Principles to Thrive Using Resiliency, Agility and a Growth Mindset
A Tidal Wave of Change™ Publication by Green Training Associates LLC
Author: Pam Sammarco, The Sustainable Observer & CEO, Green Training Associates LLC
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to my blog called the Tidal Wave of Change™. We need a tidal wave of change in EVERY corner, sector, industry, organization, household and individual. We all can, and many are, collectively contributing to make changes toward a more sustainable world.
Today’s topic is: Resiliency and Leaning into the Chaos, When LIFE Changes the Rules.
With resiliency, comes a growth mindset. A shift in thinking and behavior means you are modifying and adapting to the changing rules.
Let’s spend a few minutes for how to help you move from your current state to your optimal state.
LEANING INTO THE CHAOS, WHEN LIFE CHANGES THE RULES
Throughout the recent months, LIFE has felt like a storm cloud looming overhead. We continue to navigate headwinds and torrents of rain storms. “Leaning into the chaos” means exactly that: embracing a set of new behaviors.
We are becoming mindful, learning, adapting growing and transforming our lives and our businesses. Ideally, we build a better future that drives sustainable, positive impact for our challenges.
REFRAMING TO RESPOND DIFFERENTLY
The question is not what has happened to us, but how we respond. How can we stay on track and make progress, in life and work? This Global Pandemic continues to create a tidal wave of chaos, change, and loss. We experienced a significant shift in how, where and with whom we spend our time. The world is balancing ways to protect both people and business. We have even developed a common language that increases our global, social connectedness from this shared experience.
We are learning and adapting to exist in society with new rules, so LIFE has changed the rules. Your success, in part, will be your ability to lean into the chaos with resiliency, agility and a Growth Mindset. Resiliency is one of six essential capabilities in GTA’s Growth Mindset Virtual Training Suite.
RESILIENCY IS BOUNCING FORWARD
Increasing your resilience enables you to bounce forward, rather than bounce back, from adversity. It’s highly unlikely we will return to our previous lives. To bounce forward, we apply GTA’s Future Readiness Model™: Mindfulness. Learn. Adapt. Grow. Transform. Then, repeat the stages because it’s a cyclical and circular process.
FIVE FUTURE READINESS PRINCIPLES ALIGNED TO THE MODEL
When you need to lean into the chaos, with grit and grace, when life changes the rules, use these five principles with practical actions.
Principles and Your Practical Actions
Principles
Your Practical Actions
MINDFULNESS
Find ways to welcome your balance of social, mental and spiritual connection every day.
Resiliency is preparing yourself to respond differently. First step: Develop mindful behaviors:
- Review your mind-body-spirit connection daily. This balance is my definition of mindfulness because you are being present in three ways. Identify which ones may be out of balance and address it as one of your priorities for that day. For example, if you’re feeling fatigue from sitting too long, then add exercise, like a nature walk, to your daily schedule.
- Treat the available time you’ve been given as a gift, as many of us stay home to flatten the curve.
- Make wellness and well-being life priorities. Practice a sustainable lifestyle in every respect.
- Practice Meditation as a method for developing Mindfulness – being present and “tuned in” to the situation, adapting your actions in response.
All of these mindful behaviors enable your resiliency. When you are balanced, it increases your personal strength to withstand changes.
LEARN
Become a continuous learner to reskill and upskill in essential capabilities.
Future Readiness means that you successfully develop the capabilities to perform differently. Resiliency means you seek opportunities to respond to challenges, when LIFE changes the rules. Your continuous learning focuses on adding new Growth Mindset tools to your skills toolbox. What are some of the new behaviors to Learn, Adapt, Grow and Transform?
- Resiliency
- Innovation
- Critical Thinking
- Intelligent Risk Taking
- Change Management
- Courageous Leadership
- Leadership Personality Styles
- Emotional & Social Intelligence
Certainly, you may think of a few more skills to add!
ADAPT
Build resiliency and agility by adapting, in the face of daily and, at times, massive disruption.
When LIFE changes the rules, we have a choice to respond with modifying our behaviors or of staying the same, and facing the headwinds of resistance to change. Humans, by nature, are habitual creatures. We are comforted by habits and routines. Your decision is about choice, risk tolerance, motivation to change and other variables.
- Challenge your life lens, habits and assumptions to form new behaviors that serve you, using GTA’s Individual Shift Cognitive Science Model™.
- Practice change as a constant.
- Identify the consequences of not changing.
- Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.
Sometimes you feel helpless to stop the storm, are consumed by news reports and abrupt changes to daily home and work life. I encourage you to create an Action Plan. An Action Plan is a sorting and compartmentalizing exercise. You may proactively manage stress by sorting and prioritizing your concerns into actionable behaviors:
- Figure out what you can and can’t control.
- Make a plan for what you can control.
- Make peace with what you can’t control.
GROW
Develop a Growth Mindset by bringing your curiosity to each new situation.
Growth comes when you modify your path, yet stay true to your purpose. We learn and grow when we discover different ways to get to our goals, through innovation and change. Practical actions for growth include:
- Have a voracious appetite to monitor trends. Identify, collect and organize information and assign its relevance to you, personally and professionally.
- Take the relevant trends and translate them to actions.
- Setting and achieving goals increases your resilience because goals provide purpose, direction, commitment and motivation.
- Innovation is key to thrive when faced with uncharted waters.
TRANSFORM
Explore the true meaning of community, social connectedness.
Observe the influence our impact on our world’s complex eco-systems.
We are seeing the best and worst in human behavior.
- The best human behavior we see are those with a warrior instinct and courageous spirit. Resilient people can power through adversity with an end goal in mind: to not only survive, but thrive and help others.
- This transformational mindset is deep within, inviting you to bounce forward with a strong, resilient spirit.
- When I feel helpless, I also look for places to put my energy to take the focus off myself: Who can I help today? Who do I know that’s struggling that I can provide an uplifting message?
- Take one positive action a day to take care of yourself and others.
- To quote Tom Hanks: “When there’s trouble, look for the helpers.” Many people have embraced the concept of “Share Your Gift”. These people bring to the world actions that are generous, compassionate and helpful to others.
- Many, many examples are from donations of money, time, PPE, seamstresses making surgical masks, beer makers producing hand sanitizers by the gallons and ventilators produced in Tesla car factories, to name a few.
- Social solidarity with news anchors delivering broadcasts from home offices to Broadway singers performing on zoom to the quarantined Italians singing their national anthem to each other out of their apartment windows. Every day frontline, essential workers are committed to serve others in all capacities in demand.
EMERGENCY READINESS AND CONTINUITY ACTION PLANS INCREASES RESILIENCY
It’s stunning to think about our lack of preparedness and emergency readiness for the magnitude of this Public Health problem. It’s also leaves us speechless when we observe the rule-breakers “It doesn’t apply to me.” Or, “I won’t get the virus.” Our world will forever be changed.
Your future readiness depends on developing an Emergency Readiness and Continuity Action Plan, for both your health and job or company. Create a “worst case” scenario: What steps do you need to take or want others to take on your behalf, if you get the virus? Does your family or emergency contact have information about your medical profile/health readiness? Do you have a business continuity plan, if you’ve been adversely affected by the pandemic? Check out the Green Training Associates’ templates to help you get started.
FINDING POSITIVITY, EVEN ON DIFFICULT DAYS IS A SIGN OF RESILIENCY
In these un-imaginable circumstances, we are experiencing break-through thinking and an accelerated pace of innovation, science and technology. Experts are racing to create treatment protocols, vaccinations and testing the use of antibodies for future prevention, as the Coronavirus will be a cyclical contagion.
Data science is at its best with predictive models about the spread. The frequency, urgency and other variables to quantify the speed and demand for hospital beds, equipment, emergency personnel, skilled healthcare providers, etc. It’s extraordinary to watch brilliant minds in this world contributing everything they know with tireless, generous hearts, professional strength and laser-like focus.
We also have a landslide of thought leadership in every sector with solutions, strategies, predictions, projections and, overall, trying to assess the short- and long-term impacts in a very complex, complicated, all-encompassing pandemic.
ONE FINAL THOUGHT
I will leave you with a final thought to support and encourage you: Use these practical actions to survive and thrive, as we work to solve the world’s challenges toward a sustainable future. STAY…..INFORMED. RESILIENT. AGILE. PRODUCTIVE. COURAGEOUS. MINDFUL. HEALTHY. CONNECTED.
About the Author
Pam Sammarco, M.S. I/O Psychologist, Certified Professional in Talent Development, Founder, CEO, Green Training Associates LLC. I founded my company in 2009 to develop exceptional people to solve the world’s challenges and build sustainable organizations. We accelerate business growth through Training, Talent, Coaching and Career Solutions. I invite and encourage your contributions, feedback and questions. Please connect with me through email and social media:
- email: info@greentrainingassociates.com
- Twitter: @pamgreentrain
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamsammarco
- Youtube: Green Training Associates LLC
- Website: greentrainingassociates.com
Green Training Associates welcomes interested prospects to inquire about Green Training Associates’ programs and services related to this blog’s topics. Thank you for taking the time read my observations! Yours for a Sustainable Future, Pam