Last week we covered part 1 of 2 of this series on how to be more resilient. This week we're going to dive into the second half; remember, this is all about being able to adapt to challenging situations while managing your emotions and maintaining your state of peak performance.
Take time to study the scenarios that you’re unsure of.
One of the most natural forms of learning for us as human beings are to watch others, or model them. Since birth, we’ve been modeling the words, sounds, and actions of those around us. Resilient people model those who are already successful within the desired area of performance and model their responses to adverse situations.
Taking the time to study, or watch films of scenarios that you’re unsure of greatly helps build resourcefulness. It teaches you how to handle situations that you’re unsure of, or haven’t been in before, so you can see how to better handle them. You must make time daily to study people who are already successful in situations that you desire to be successful in so that you can learn how they navigate specific situations with excellence.
Focus on one thing.
Resilient people have the ability to focus on one thing: this sounds simple in theory, but is tough in practicality. Resilient people don’t let their focus waiver, and before you learn how to keep yourself locked in on a “rep by rep”, or task by task”, basis you first must learn how to focus. At Molliteum, we have a formula for focus: one action + one direction + one intended result.
For example, let’s pretend you're a forward who plays soccer and you are focused on wanting to score a goal. To break this down into a laser focus, you’ll want to focus on an action to get you into the right scoring area, a direction of where to go, and an end result to be intentional for.
Laser Focus Breakdown
Sprint down the wing (action), get into the 18-yard box (direction), and shoot to score (intended result).
Once you have your laser focus in place, the next step is to focus on it one rep at a time. All you need to focus on is the next rep in front of you; don't worry about the past, focus on what you must do moving forward.
Know what’s in your control.
Resilient people only put their focus into what they can control, or, what we call at Molliteum your “PAW”: preparation, attitude, and work ethic. Virtually every uncontrollable situation can be turned into a controllable one by compartmentalizing your focus into one of these three categories.
Preparation is when you ensure that you have, what we call at Molliteum, a “holistic approach to your preparation”, or an approach where you take care of the mental, physical, nutritional, personal, social, sleep, and recovery components of the desired result.
Attitude is choosing to have a dominant and optimistic approach to set the tone for any given situation. You have the final say as to how you are feeling before taking action.
Proper work ethic requires someone to have a purpose and intensity for their deliberate work.
When you realize that any response to an uncontrollable situation can be categorized into one, or all, of these three categories, you’ll be able to adapt. Make every uncontrollable situation fall into one of these controllable categories and take immediate action on them.
Focus on how not why.
So many times we beat ourselves up by obsessing over why something didn’t work out, versus obsessing over how to move toward the results we want. Resilient people spend 5% of their time on the problem, or the “why” of a negative situation, and 95% of their time on the solution, or “how to move forward” from a negative situation. They condition it within themselves to look at any negative situation and understand the cause of it as quickly as possible, then move forward with finding solutions even quicker.
Think, this is the basis of how you move on from past traumatic events; by focusing on how you must move forward and what next steps you need to take, you allow yourself to adapt and move forward, instead of staying stagnant while regressing.
If you want to be more resilient, then you must train yourself to look at negative situations and ask yourself, “How can I move forward from this?” Asking “how” allows you to be more resourceful, which allows you to be more resilient, develop mental toughness, and deal with stress.
Consistent, and regular, repetition.
Resilient people know that they must be able to fall back on their preparation, or their ability to know that they can handle situations with ease. The way to do this is by having regular, and consistent, repetition (or practice) that allows you to be sure of your skills. Think of this as mental training, or putting in the repetitions that enhance mental strength and develop resilience.
Resilient people are sure of themselves because they’ve taken the time to build their skills properly; they have such a strong foundation of belief within themselves because of how, and when, they practice. By doing this, they’re able to know that if a situation arises then they can use one of their various skills to adapt with ease, and they’re sure of those skills because they’ve practiced them.
The key to consistent repetition isn’t to try and “guess” what’ll happen in a performance, but instead to prepare your skills so that they’re sharp and ready to be used.
Resilient people are able to adapt because they have systems in place to build their commitment, competence, focus, and toughness, in turn bettering their psychological skills and mental health. These skills are just as important for athletic performance, as they are for defeating anxiety and depression. Stick to this list of these 10 tools so that you can be more resilient, and if you want to extend this list, and be trained weekly on building your resilience, then you’ll want to sign up for the Molliteum Insider.
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