Those of us who run our own businesses, never expected to be having the type of conversations we're having now. Not only coping with our individual lockdown experience but watching business disappeared overnight, clients retracted, companies slashed budgets, personal plans abandoned, holidays a distant memory. We did see a return to a more basic living, maybe an appreciation for the simpler things, reconnecting with your local communities, checking up with neighbours, so maybe that was a plus side.

But it is these uncertain times where we have to really dig deep & find strengths we never knew we had. Firstly, don’t beat yourself up for how you're coming out of lockdown. I for one haven’t landscaped the garden nor redecorated the house, nor created a sourdough culture...

However, I do recognise, for many of us, whether individually or in our businesses, the need to reboot our motivation, our creative thinking & unwrap our resilience. In this 2 part blog, my thoughts on rebuilding resilience for business, then in the 2nd. adapting communications for saliency

So Resilience

Business resilience is the ability an organization has to quickly adapt to disruptions while maintaining continuous business operations, protecting your people and safeguarding assets and overall brand equity.

Before you can make those business changes you need to reset yourself, your business partners/co-workers. There are some fundamental changes you can make, many of which you will know, but acting upon them is a very different matter  

Switch the way you think about adversity/difficulties. ... Don’t see it as an end to all you knew before and instead try to look for the opportunity to refresh.  Many have taken time to reset, to look at themselves (and their business) through a different lens, have they gone off track, are they doing what they love, has the energy evaporated in the business.  Previous generations said, “Look on the bright side,” well there is truth in that, simply put keep your vision in front of you. But this is a conscious action, when you see yourself going down that negative path you need to actively park that thought and look for the of the upside

Change your attitude - Looking for the doom can so easily become a habit, so nip it in the bud now, recognise any negative outlook and see how you can flip it. If you are stuck, demotivated, try to do 2/3 positive things for yourself a day, just to create a change in habit. Another tip is to change your stance, stand/sit tall, shoulders back, walk with a bit of determination even if the living room, you’ll be surprised how much changing your physical, changes your outlook

As Maya Angelou said   “If you don’t like something change it, if you can’t change it, change your attitude – Don’t Complain

Flip your focus – look at a self-strategy in the same way as you do in your business strategy. ... Focus on your strengths. What ignites the spark in you, how do you come alive? Instead of concentrating on the things that make you feel empty, look to the things that make you happy, laugh & build those into your every day

Modify your vocabulary. ... Listen to yourself. Do you typically whine and murmur about what you have to do? Are you voicing your critical viewpoint to someone else or business connections? This all can just compound the pain. Your inner critique can be so damaging and you start to believe it, which leads to ……

Stop your self-defeating behaviours such is your self-talk, I bet you would never talk to you best friend, partner, children as you do yourself   Much of our self-defeat actions come from how we talk to ourselves and then those thoughts reflect in our behaviours. Practice trusting yourself instead of doubting yourself. Again, this is a conscious decision to stop and think ‘Actually I was pretty good at….’

Reflect on how you view yourself –. ... Self-doubt is essentially the fear of being wrong. A duel perspective view can be really valuable here. How you see yourself is not how others see you. Ask your closest friends to describe you…You’ll be really surprised by their perspective, it's really interesting.  

Never be limited to what you can become & accomplish.