For more than thirty years, my work has involved teaching and coaching others. From public school subjects to the corporate world, my focus has been helping others learn how to tap into their potential. One commonality that has surfaced again and again is that human experience continually moves from periods of high energy, confidence, determination, motivation and feelings of omnipotence to periods of self-doubt, anxiety, fear, feelings of failure or an emptiness or searching for that "something" that seems to be missing from their life. Interviews with people of various ages and from different cultural and socio-economic, religious, education, and work backgrounds revealed that, without exception, had experienced periods of high and none were immune from the occasional "drop". What, then, caused some to sustain the high periods longer than the low periods or, conversely, why did some stay in low periods for long periods of time without the seeming ability to rise against their obstacles and problems in their lives? My conclusion is that their resilience was directly tied to their attitude. Riding the "Roller Coaster" of life and our ability to employ resilience during the "ups and downs" can make the difference between our success and failure in our personal life and on the job. Individuals and organizations have been faced with positive and negative experiences (the ups and downs) and have had to draw upon resilience to meet situational demands. The ability to call upon your resilience or your lack of resilience impacts every aspect of personal and organizational life. Our reactions, coping or non-coping strategies, in other words our resilience, become automatic. We are often through the process, at our destination, before we realize we have taken the trip. We may respond proactively, with assertiveness, purpose and direction in any given situation. That same situation encountered at a different time may find us totally unprepared to handle to the crisis of the situation.
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