On Resilience | Bouncing back to being Your Real Self

A statement we hear on repeat: “Ever since Covid…”.

Count how many times you’ve had a conversation that reminisces back on how things were pre-2020? For every one instance that pops up – sip up some good quality spring water, maybe spiked with some hydrogen. Wash out those thoughts. There is no going back.

We have all become a weird version of who we “once were”.

Movies vs Netflix. Attend stimulating things vs join online anything. Eat, drink and be merry until past midnight vs intermittent fasting, quality sleep and bullet coffee. How should we frame this "out of whack" version of ourselves?

The previous versions of our identify and existence have been reset. Cut yourself some slack - we’re still figuring it out, without a normative reference point.

So where to from here when:

• The bosses summoned us back to the office while we know we can get more done from home.
• Tech keeps us always plugged in, yet mentally wired and emotionally tired.
• Our bodies crave more strolling, but dopamine wins with scrolling.
• Our brains yearn for restorative sleep, in rooms buzzing with free flow electromagnetic creep.
• The pace of change nudges us to align with the “new Me, who we ourselves don’t even know.
• Our new butterfly wings feel clipped in our outer construct that keeps on validating the "old You", causing ripples of anxiety that we feel physically, mentally, emotionally and relationally.

Stop. Pause. Breathe. Trust in the old saying, “This too shall pass.”

My new Why

“Help me know my Purpose?”, ask many of my clients.

Purpose is that GPS inside – we’re born with it. Every living thing has a Purpose, starting with survival. Half a decade later, we’ve all bounced back from the 2020 watershed point – we were in it together. Now to flow forward, within ourselves and then together.

What directs your daily actions, thoughts and decisions?

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

- William Ernest Henley

If Purpose is poetry, what is Your existential poem?

My new How

High performers are insatiable high achievers. I hear this often, “Coach me how to be resilient … there is so much going on, I need to be more resilient”.

Oh but you already are!

• Stop.
• Reframe.
• Take stock of how far you have come since 2020.

Resilience is not a destination. It is a state of being.

Purpose and Resilience – Dance with them

Identity is authenticated through Purpose. Purpose is a state of doing - it moves, creates, contributes and inspires.

Resilience enables Purpose to flow. Think of Resilience as a rock and Purpose as the ocean – one anchors, the other flows.

Where Resilience is the conductor, Purpose is the music.

My new Who

Exercise – Choose the New You that expresses who you were born to be:

• Stand in front of the mirror. You are at ground zero.
• ....
• CTRL + ALT + DEL – in your mind, clear your existing self-image.
• ....
• Identity reset. The canvas of self-perceptions pure white.
• ....
• Drink another gulp of that pure water.
• ....
• Watch your old self fade away.
• ....
• Let the New You float in.
• ....
• Who have You become?
• ....
• Greet the New You.
• ....
• Embrace him/her – a warm Self hug.
• ....
• Integrate with the New You.
• ....
• Turn away from the mirror.
• ....
• Walk away. Don’t look back.
• ....
• In a journal, describe what you’ve just experienced.
• ....
• Now physically find the one person who loves you most.
• ....
• Look that person in the eye.
• ....
• Declare to him/her your New Self.
• ....
• Place both hands in front of the heart and acknowledge your Soul reboot.

Congratulations! You’ve bounced back to the Real Self.

Now Let’s Talk about bouncing through to being the purpose-driven You.