I got an email from my accountant this week asking me if I wanted to be furloughed. I promptly replied saying no. Although Covid-19 has had an adverse impact on my business in some ways, I am still serving many clients. I would like to start with a special mention to all those who signed up for my Heart Connection leads the way to Emotional Health series on LinkedIn. The event has over 55 subscribers. And 50% of those have registered to take part in the weekly top ups on Weds. Registering is great because even if you miss the 30 minute tune up, you will receive a copy of the audio so that you can continue to use the meditation throughout the week. It’s not too late to join; click here to find out more.
Building your resilience muscle
When I initially mentioned that I was running this programme, I had one sign up and that was me checking that the process worked! That remained the case for quite a few days. Being an entrepreneur requires mental toughness. Others with that lack of take up might have crumbled and told themselves that it wasn’t the right time for the programme or some other excuse.
Do you collapse or see a setback as a challenge?
What I did was to lean in. I had a call planned with my mastermind buddy and that helped because we had a laugh together. I then emailed everyone who had signed up for the event explaining that it was a two step process. I still had very little take up which did surprise me somewhat. I then did a video and placed it in the group in case attendees provided that medium of communication. Still nothing. At that point I heard the words of my Sufi coach in my head and planned and paid for a Facebook promotion. That too had very little impact.
Keeping the faith
I didn’t give up. What made all the difference was that I kept bringing it to my spiritual practice each day and giving it over to Oneness. And I had faith that all would be well. Faith is the first of the seven keys to emotional resilience in my forthcoming programme.
That faith comes from an inner commitment built on my passion. My passion is what keeps me going and gets me out of bed in the morning. And on the odd occasion doubts start to creep in, I have one or two trusted colleagues I can call upon to bear witness and remind me of who I am really. Those deep, meaningful relationships are what keep me going in times of adversity.
Why do people give up?
Perhaps you are one of those people who finds it hard to commit. I can always sense it in a person. It tends to be the person who is unwilling to commit to the required number of sessions to bring about a change or quibbles over the price of a programme. What tends to happen is after a couple of sessions they stop showing up. This is because the fear kicks in and one of two scenarios play out. The first is the belief in scarcity that there is not enough to go around; money is hard to come by so it’s best to hold on tightly to what you have. This person is likely to say that they cannot afford it and they really believe that to be true.
The second trap
When your ego is running the show then what matters is your performance. It reminds me of the environment in the management consultancy practice I used to belong to. The prevailing view there was that you were only as good as your last job. Consultants therefore were always on tenterhooks. The partners liked that because they thought breeding competition got a higher performance from staff. In such a scenario the focus is on being right and winning and looking the best you can. The problem is that this is not sustainable and becomes exhausting. There is also huge volatility because the ego depends on others’ feedback. If the ego doesn’t get what it needs, it convinces you that the process is not working and you withdraw.
How do you change this pattern?
One of the ways of avoiding this impasse and grow, is to embrace a learning mindset, and to focus on discovering and re-membering who you are really. When you cultivate a desire to learn and grow, you also give yourself permission to fail, knowing that fail means first attempt in learning. This is so freeing because the goal is then all about learning for your own personal growth, rather than perfection, prestige or praise!
Yes we are living through really challenging times and emotional resilience is what will get you through. With that comes the recognition that you never know what’s going to happen. If you run your own business you never know how much you will make in any given month. Commitment is what underpins resilience and builds that strength of character. Why not start today with this mantra today I am making a stronger commitment to myself. Write it in your journal and notice what happens over the next week. Be willing to be surprised.