When life and your career are going well, it’s easy to feel like you are on top of the world. That you can DO anything, BE anyone. You may find yourself saying YES to more things, taking leaps of faith, being creative and innovative. Isn’t that what everyone wants – to perform at your peak in every area of life? When things are going well, it’s easy to take this for granted. Yet, when you want to (or need to) step up your performance, or life hits the metaphorical fan, you may notice that one particular area has been missed. That you haven’t been tapping into your resilience reserves! In this month’s book club, we are reviewing “The Resilience Club” By Angela Armstrong PhD* to investigate this very issue!
I met Angela about seven years ago, when I returned to work after having my youngest, and joined a local Leadership and Development group. I was always really struck by her personal story, and the passion and drive she has to make sure that others are able to have a healthy and productive life. You are able to hear more about her personal burn out story on her TEDx Talk, “How to Solve the Stress Epidemic.”
As you can imagine, I was very intrigued to hear more about her book; to understand how to manage the stresses that occurs in all our personal and professional lives, and to understand how this can not only improve our lives, but that of the people that surround us.
So, what is the book about? It is an easy to read and well-structured analysis of the realities of living and working in an era of pressure, technology, and being always on. As the blurb states “The resilience habits in his book are entirely within your control, simple to understand, quick to do, can be done anywhere, cost no money and require no kit”. Like many of the books that I read as part the book club, whilst they are read with my clients firmly in mind, I often identify and take on board lots of the content; not just for my coaching practise, but for my life too!
Have you read this far into the blog and are not 100% sure what resilience is? Well, whilst there isn’t a universal definition as of yet, I really love Angela’s, who defines resilience as “the ability to take on challenges and changes in life in your stride and say YES to the opportunities that excite you”. Sounds to me one like of the key facets for creating a career to enjoy not endure; what do you think?
So, in true “Clara Cliff Notes Style”, here are the three things you need to know about “The Resilience Club”
- Stress is within everyone’s life
If you are wondering if the book is for you, YES! Every person is a leader in their own right. It doesn’t matter if you lead a team, a movement, a business or a family, being able to manage stress through building resilience is essential. However, interestingly, Armstrong feels very strongly that stress is a choice. The situation can’t always change, but how you respond to it can – and resilience plays a massive part in how you react to the instances around you.
- Resilience can be developed
Like many life traits, it is easy to look at someone’s behaviour or reaction to situations and assume that they have an innate ability to “bounce back”. As the research and case studies in the book show, that is not the case. The Resilience Bible is based around the FREEDOM model, which also has 30 habits to reduce stress and increase the capacity to take on new challenges. FREEDOM stands for:
FOCUS
ROLE MODELS
ENERGY
EMOTIONS
DOWNTIME
OPTIMISM
MEANING
This isn’t about insipid self-care suggestions and positive thinking, but identifying what creates your resilience energy stores, and working every day to make steady and solid steps to “fill you bucket”.
- Are you burnt out already?
Life can be exhausting, when you add small kids, ageing parents, friends, families, teenagers, business in the mix, it’s no wonder that we can feel down. But something the stress that people have to manage, the challenges, changes and traumas that we experience can reach a tipping point and move you into burn out. The appendices of the book helpfully show a list of signs up may be running a risk of burning out. What is handy is the list of “Sick and Tired” and “Burning Out” – the precursors to the very damaging burn out. So, if you are reading this feeling ill when you are usually healthy, have a never ending to-list (that only you do) and are more cynical that usual, then you may be “sick and tired” and need to take some instant action
So , if you are fed up of a life that feels challenging, want to be able to do more of what you want, and still have the psychological resources for more, and feel that £14.99 is worth a lifetime of health, then you need to get this book!
Have you read it? What do you think? Which area made the greatest impact for you? Read this other book reviews here.
Come along to Creating Careers to Enjoy to join over 500 parents looking to create a life they enjoy, and a work-life balance that works for them!
*The link is an affiliate Link. If you click on it, and then purchase, I may get a few extra pennies, but it won’t impact the cost for you!
Clara Wilcox is a straight talking, practical and experienced coach helping clients navigate the tricky waters of returning to work, career changes and professional development. The Balance Collective is a social enterprise focused on improving the lives of parents, by working together to build inner confidence and promote a healthy work/life balance.
