Most of us can see the advantages in being more resilient at work. In many roles the pressures of working in a demanding job may ‘go with the territory’, but that doesn’t in any way lessen their impact. However skilled and committed employees are, they will still struggle with the usual consequences of working in a demanding and challenging environment.
These pressures arise for many reasons and come from many directions. While we cannot avoid them, we can control our reactions to them. Mindfulness is relatively easy to master and with practice simple to apply. Among the well-established and proven benefits are:
- Increased self-awareness, focus and attention
- Improved cognitive and communication skills
- Greater resilience, reduced vulnerability to stress
- Better team working and understanding of others.
Positive outcomes are not limited to work and can enhance quality of life in general through:
- Improved sleep
- More time for family and friends
- More effective listening
- Better relations at home
- Clearer thinking and planning
- More availability for others
- Quicker recovery from stressful moments
- Better emotional control.
One of the icons of Mindfulness is Jon-Kabat Zinn, he is credited with bringing the subject into the mainstream. Many major employers – from Apple to Xerox – have made Mindfulness training part of their curricula.
In your own hands
But, budgets are being cut which makes it less likely that employers will provide training in, as they might see it, non-essentials like mindfulness. The essentials require no training though.You can start simple exercises easily enough, I’ve provided a downloadable one below.
Resilience is consistently the topic on my website which attracts the most hits. I’ll continue to provide free resources to help you develop your stamina and my next ebook – A Solution Focused Guide to Personal Resilience; Fresh Reserves to Avoid Running Low – will be published soon. Keep in touch if you want receive my free offers to subscribers.
