How to Be More Resilient at Work

When you encounter a setback in the workplace, it's easy to give up. At the very best, you might become discouraged. With a few tips on how to be more resilient, you can recover from anything in the workplace and excel.

The Importance of Resilience

No matter what industry you're in, you will face challenges. Whether a company lays off workers or you miss out on a big promotion, you could have an obstacle at every corner. The way you recover from those setbacks plays an important role in your future.

If you allow every setback to break your spirit, you'll never fully recover. You might just go through the motions, barely making it by. For any chance at success, you need to handle challenges with a positive mindset and a resilient spirit.

But resilience doesn't come easily. If you're motivated and take pride in your work, you probably take setbacks and criticism to heart. You need to make an effort to recover from the situation in the best way possible.

Tips for Being Resilient

Are you ready to turn your career around? If so, here are a few tips to get you on the right track.

Work on Your Emotional Insight

If you have emotional insight, you can understand more about how you're feeling and react accordingly. Consider this example.

Your boss tells you that they've been disappointed with your recent performance at work. Because you take pride in your work, your immediate reaction is to become defensive. As an immediate reaction, you might want to write an email explaining how hard you've been working, or how unfair the workload is.

If you have emotional insight, you understand that your immediate reaction isn't quite right. You can think about your recent performance and what might have affected it. Perhaps you were distracted, or had too much of a workload to handle everything to your usual ability. Instead of being defensive, you can see the merit in your boss' accusations.

Have a Work-Life Balance

When people don't have any work-life balance, they aren't resilient. They often burn out and find it difficult to overcome normal challenges. Therefore, one of the best ways to become more resilient is to focus on having a better work-life balance.

This is easier said than done. If you want the right balance, you need to work towards it. You have to focus enough on your work while still enjoying your time at home. Oftentimes, finding the proper balance entails being more efficient when you're at work.

People often mistake efficiency for shortcuts. However, true efficiency doesn't impact the quality of your work. You might be able to spend less time at work by taking a shorter lunch break, or by streamlining a process. You may be able to get more work done than you think.

See Difficulties as a Learning Experience

If you see challenges as just another obstacle in your way, you won't bounce back the way you should. Change your mindset and perceive difficulties as a learning experience. You don't need to dread everything that seems to block you from your path. Instead, you can embrace it.

Every challenge poses you with a new opportunity. For instance, you might need to take a course to understand how to deal with a change in procedure. In taking that course, you make yourself a more valuable employee. It could be the reason you get a promotion in the future.

Everything is a learning experience. Before you even attempt to overcome an obstacle, consider what you have to learn from it. The reward could be what motivates you to go through with it.

Celebrate Your Success

Are you taking the time to celebrate all of your minor successes? While most people celebrate major events like promotions and meeting long-term goals, individuals tend to forget to celebrate the little things.

At the end of each day, think about what success you had. You might surprise yourself with how much you have to celebrate. Meeting a deadline, impressing your boss, and connecting with a coworker all deserve celebration.

You don't need to go out to a fancy dinner or spend money on new clothes to celebrate. As long as you give yourself credit for what you achieved, you're on the right track. Even if you deal with a few setbacks, you can let your successes propel you forward.

Be Realistic

One of the reasons people tend to beat themselves up is a lack of realism. You might expect too much of yourself, which causes you to become overwhelmed or disappointed in your performance.

To improve your outlook, set realistic goals and expectations. If your boss is setting unrealistic goals, inform them of that. There's nothing wrong with knowing your own limitations. By being honest, you set yourself up for success and avoid disappointment from all parties.

If you have a list of goals, take the time to assess them. Are the goals themselves realistic? What about the timeline for those goals? After a thorough evaluation, change your goals to be realistic. You might find that doing so makes it easier to be resilient.

Keep a Positive Outlook

When someone is negative about you or your work, you may let the criticism bring you down. It's human nature to take a negative review to heart. But doing so can only lead to you becoming frustrated and giving up.

As hard as it may be, try to keep a positive mindset. If an employer lays you off, think about what you'll do with the time. You might get to be home for your kid's birthday or focus on pursuing a new career.

Positivity doesn't come easily. If you struggle to remain positive, use affirmations to change your perspective. Look in the mirror and tell yourself something positive. You can also try reading books about positivity or listening to podcasts.