Resilience and Grit, A Physical Impossibility?
It’s a funny comparison, resilience and grit, but as a resilience and grit keynote speaker, I know that what seems opposite are connected.
When we think of “resilience,” we think of a strand of cooked spaghetti, a rubber band, stretch-band or something that bends every which way in the wind but returns to normal. When most of us think of “grit,” we think of holding-fast, grinding it out and never yielding.
As a grit and resilience speaker I know that we can’t have one without the other and in fact, they need each other.
Taking it out of the “physical” and into the organizational, I can almost always predict who in an organization will adjust to change and who will encounter problems.
In November 2012, Laura Quast wrote an engaging article for Forbes on why people resist change. She listed 5 reasons: fear of the unknown, mistrust, loss of control, bad timing, and every person’s tolerance for change.
The Resilience and Grit Equation
Taking the five points above, I like to turn them around and look at them through the lens of my personal philosophy of Vision – Mindset – Grit. Why? Because I believe that no matter what change you are going through, with resilience and grit, you can accomplish far more than you ever thought possible.
- Embracing the unknown – Every great inventor, athlete, actor, CEO, sales person, artist, or most anyone who has risen to greatness did so because they embraced the unknown. They drowned out everything negative and had a vision of themselves as being successful, with the mindset of overcoming any challenge and the grit to fight it out.
- Be in control – No one can be in control one-hundred percent of the time, but we can develop the courage to be resilient no matter what is thrown at us. We can visualize taking that control and understanding we are stronger, tougher and braver than we think.
- Faith in the future – The resilient person is the one who has the vision and resilience to understand that things will work out IF the effort is made to use the daily grit to make it work.
- Timing is perfect – The person with resilience and grit understands that “things change” and nothing stays the same. The drive to work changes, the shift from in-person work to virtual to hybrid, new machinery, executives, the organization itself changes. Do you have the vision of seeing yourself in a new role, a new office and even new co-workers? The timing could be perfect to allow yourself to stand-up and shine.
- Tolerance for change – Who has the tolerance for change? You do. Who is resilient enough to adjust and thrive no matter the situation? You are.
The resilient person understands that there is no substitute for grit. It may not be “fancy” day to day, but resilient, motivated employees are those who make organizations work and with purposeful grit, they elevate companies to greatness.
For more information on Scott Burrows, Resilience & Grit Motivational Speaker for your next event, contact him through this website or his office at: (520) 548-1169
