Use our Resilience Profiling Tool to rate your resilience and see where you can make choices to sustain yourself as a Self Leader.
You’re a Self Leader. We’re all Self Leaders. Now is the time for the rise of the Self Leader, for us to be in control and choose our attitudes, emotions and actions. To have a sense of purpose, to find energy for what’s important and to build our confidence to make the contributions we want to make.
Big ‘but’ coming…..But, that’s immensely challenging, or almost impossible, if you’re exhausted. You have only so much mental, physical and emotional capacity and it needs constantly regenerating. Covid-19 represents uncharted waters for everyone and will remain in front of us, to be navigated for some time yet, and a real drain on all our energy sources, no matter how ‘strong’ anyone thinks you are.
So, we as Self Leaders, must own the opportunity to build our resilience to get through these testing times as we prepare to go from the ‘now’ to the ‘new’.
YOU ARE UNIQUE
Try to avoid the deluge of articles telling you what you ‘should’ do. Instead, we want to encourage you to own your approach, by increasing self-awareness and experimenting – that way, you will discover what works for you.
If you don’t need routine, don’t do routine. If you like to cook rather than read, that’s just fine. If you don’t want to run, but like fresh air, try skipping or gardening! You get the idea…it’s better not to compare yourself to anyone else, either in what you do or the extent to which you do it.
Use our Resilience Profiling Tool to rate your resilience and see where you can make choices to sustain yourself as a Self Leader.
You’re a Self Leader. We’re all Self Leaders. Now is the time for the rise of the Self Leader, for us to be in control and choose our attitudes, emotions and actions. To have a sense of purpose, to find energy for what’s important and to build our confidence to make the contributions we want to make.
Big ‘but’ coming…..But, that’s immensely challenging, or almost impossible, if you’re exhausted. You have only so much mental, physical and emotional capacity and it needs constantly regenerating. Covid-19 represents uncharted waters for everyone and will remain in front of us, to be navigated for some time yet, and a real drain on all our energy sources, no matter how ‘strong’ anyone thinks you are.
So, we as Self Leaders, must own the opportunity to build our resilience to get through these testing times as we prepare to go from the ‘now’ to the ‘new’.
YOU ARE UNIQUE
Try to avoid the deluge of articles telling you what you ‘should’ do. Instead, we want to encourage you to own your approach, by increasing self-awareness and experimenting – that way, you will discover what works for you.
If you don’t need routine, don’t do routine. If you like to cook rather than read, that’s just fine. If you don’t want to run, but like fresh air, try skipping or gardening! You get the idea…it’s better not to compare yourself to anyone else, either in what you do or the extent to which you do it.
Below is some guidance to help you consider where you fit in the green circle, which itself is hand drawn and non-perfect, because each one of you and your situations are entirely unique.
Use the following questions to help you complete personal benchmarking, with ‘10’ indicating you are doing as much as you need in this aspect of building resilience and ‘0’ indicating a potential area of vulnerability.
Sleep (which is vital for regeneration of our minds)
- Do you know how much undisturbed sleep you ideally need and get it?
- Do you have good sleep hygiene for consistency of sleep quality?
Ideas for Sleep: Blackout blinds; digital detox for two hours before bed; no tech in bedroom; light up Lumie clock rather than ‘alarm clock; ideally finish eating within 90min-2hrs of bedtime; low to moderate alcohol intake.
Movement (includes any physical movement of the body)
- Do you have 150 mins of ‘Moderate’ activity or 75 mins of ‘Vigorous’ activity per week? (Moderate activity is an elevated heart rate yet able to hold a conversation and Vigorous activity is an elevated heart rate and can only converse in short sentences per World Health Organisation Guidelines).
- Do you anchor in your chosen activity so it doesn’t lose priority status?
Ideas for Movement: Use your body whether it be ‘fitness’, gardening or housework; stretching at regular intervals; incorporate movement into your daily routine, e.g. walk to shop don’t drive; don’t stress the immune system with too much HIIT training if you’re not used to it
Nutrition (refers to our dietary intake)
- Are your meals based on whole, natural foods?
- Do you ‘fuel’ throughout the day to be able to generate the energy you need when you need it?
Ideas for Nutrition: Plan meals ahead of time; drink 2L of water per day; follow government guidelines to limit alcohol (particularly important during these coronavirus times); avoid ‘snacking’ with high sugar foods.
Mental Well-Being (includes a range of things impacting our mental health)
- Do you feel mentally alert and are you able to be there emotionally for others?
- Are you able to control your thoughts and emotions before they become actions?
Ideas for Mental Well-Being: Noticing and being aware of thoughts and emotions; breathing techniques; finding practices that help you, e.g. mindfulness, meditation; greenspace; hitting your ‘pause’ button’ seeking professional help if you need it.
Self-Belief (which is confidence in our own abilities or judgment)
- Can you switch off the inner chat of self-doubt?
- Do you have an ‘inner circle’ who will challenge, support and mentor you?
Ideas for Self-Belief: Create a list of achievements; create a gratitude journal; prepare effectively for significant ‘moments’; create opportunities to do things you haven’t done before; visualisation techniques.
Support (covers the relationships we need to count on)
- Do you have access to people who can support you unconditionally for your well being?
- Are you part of some kind of community (professional or personal) that can provide guidance, listening and support as well as accountability?
Ideas for Support: Create an inner circle specifically for resilience; build honest relationships; mentoring; ask family or friends.
Regeneration (is achieved by enriching ourselves without feeling guilty!)
- Do you set aside time for things that give you joy?
- Can you prioritise being kind to yourself?
Ideas for Regeneration: This can be endless and depends on what you like, including, reading, board games, hikes, lego-building, cooking, jigsaws (these examples are relevant in the covid-19 ‘lockdown’ so we’d add in making a photobook!)
ONLY CHANGE ONE THING AT A TIME
It can take a while to build and anchor a new habit. The good news is, the brain’s neuroplasticity means you can create new habits. So, just try one new thing at a time. You don’t go from nothing to running 26 miles in a marathon. You focus on pace, stride length, breath, distance and so on, gradually over a number of months. It’s the same with building resilience strategies and habits.
YOU’RE A SELF LEADER – YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE CHOICES
You are resourceful. It’s you who needs to choose where to build resilience and it’s you who needs to be consistent. Take one day at a time, one habit at a time. No one else can do it for you. But we can and will cheer you on! You’re a Self Leader!!
