Resilience and the Power of Three
I just put the finishing touches on a keynote presentation for a client’s virtual conference. The client is doing what so many organizations are doing right now: reimagining work as we “work through the middle” of this unprecedented time. They asked me to speak on a topic that’s deeply personal to me: developing resilience to navigate overwhelming moments.
As I was learning more about their business and team, I discovered their CEO is, like me, a huge fan of the Power of Three. Not surprisingly, my presentation focused on three areas that help us increase our resilience: awareness, abundance, and action.
Awareness: Where am I?
Being intently focused on the present moment is not my default setting. One of my favorite ways to redirect my attention from the past or future to the present? Hitting pause to “pull up” and put some distance between me and my thinking—especially the unhelpful stories created by my Insane Thought Generator.
Abundance: What do I have?
With all the uncertainty swirling around us, the pull to focus on something I don’t have can quickly pull me into a scarcity mindset. One of my favorite ways to activate abundance is to review my ‘praise pile’, a document that summarizes thank you notes from clients and colleagues after I’ve helped them make a positive shift. If you don’t have a ‘praise pile’ please start one today!
Action: What can I do today?
Some days it is really hard to get started, and my first thought is to ‘grind it out’. Turns out that is not healthy. One of my favorite ways to change that mindset is to identify an anchor for action, a positive action I can take that nourishes my mind, body, or soul. I create space for that action, schedule it, and plan my day around it.
A great example of anchors for actions—and the power of three—comes from legendary North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano. Two months before his passing, Jimmy V accepted the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage Award and shared the following:
“To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think—spend some time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that’s a heck of a day.”
I’ll close with one more technique for building resilience, courtesy of my great-grandmother Nanie. I recently rediscovered a handwritten letter she sent me when I graduated from high school, and this recommendation caught my attention, “You need periods to be alone. Cherish this because it intensifies your awareness and re-charges your batteries.”
Now more than ever, finding solitude to “intensify our awareness and re-charge our batteries” is so important. I hope you’re able to experience that.
If you’re planning a virtual event and would like to arm attendees with great resources for building resilience, please contact me. I’d love to jam on ways I can help you and your team!
As always, thanks for stopping by! I hope you found this helpful, and I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at ben@thebenkikergroup.com, or connect with me via Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.