Thrive Under Pressure

How do we respond to extreme stress and pressure? How do we respond to difficult moment? We react to the life's setbacks in many different ways. Some emotionally explode. We become enraged and flail around. We have emotional tantrums in which we may want to hurt someone. A few of us become physically violent.

Some of us do the opposite. We implode. We go numb. We feel so helpless and overwhelmed we can't even try to cope with what has happened.

Some of us potray ourselves as victims. We blame others for ruining our lives. We spiral downward, mired in unhappy thoughts and feelings. "This isn't fair," we complain over and over. "Look at what they've done to me now."

Then, there is another group, the people who get through their distress, orient quickly to the new reality, and cope with immediate challenges. They bounce back and often spiral upward, stronger and better than before. In the workplace, they convert what could be a major career difficulties into finding an even better career achievement and growth.

Highly resilient people are flexible, adapt to a new circumstances quickly, and thrive in constant change. Most importantly, they expect to bounce back and feel confident they will. They have a knack for creating good luck out of circumstance that many others see as bad luck.

In the past, individuals had to learn how to become resilient on their own. Now the new science of resiliency psychology can show us how to become quickly and easily resilient in a way that fits our world. Research into coping, optimism, hardiness, stress-resistance, post-traumatic growth, creativity, emotional intelligence, and the survivor personality has been identified as the main attributes of resiliency. We can learn how to use knowledge gained from the latest psychology research to develop our unique way of being resilient. Resilient people are the people who can thrive under pressure.

reference

1. Al Siebert (2005). The Resiliency Advantages: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure, and Bounce Back From Setbacks. San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler Publisher INC.