Finding a satisfying career, achieving success in that career and continuing to enjoy what you do over the long term can be a challenge. There are three aspects to this challenge:

The world of work and business continues to change and the pace of this can be intense and unrelenting. 

Over time what you want from work can change. This can be confusing and destabilising

And of course, unexpected things happen in your life and your career. Never has there been a better example of this than the current global predicament affecting our careers.

To help you navigate the challenges of life and your career, developing career resilience can be the key to enjoying your job and building a great career.

Resilience is that trait that allows you to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome you and drain your resolve, you find a way to rise from the ashes.

Here are 3 easy steps to get started …

1. Focus on the things you can change

At work knowing what you can change and what you can't change in any situation is very helpful. Focussing on those aspects you can't change is pointless. Instead, focus on the things you can change. 

Things you can't control:

- How other people react

- What other people say

- What other people think about you

Things you can control:

- Your preparation for an event

- Your attitude and self-worth mindset

- What you say or do

- How you respond to other people

Focus on the things you can control and don't worry about those that are out of your control.

2. The thought of a challenging situation is often worse than the actual situation

When I look back to the most stressful parts of my career, I can see a pattern – most of the stress resulted from my thinking about what might happen or when I was predicting a career calamity.

"I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened." 

Mark Twain

It's helpful to think about a challenging situation as being made up of four parts:

- A - The actual situation (e.g., a job interview, discussion with a difficult employee)

- B - Preparation for the situation (Preparing interview responses, planning the discussion)

- C - Thinking about the situation (Focused thinking about the event, using your cognitive skills to skilfully plan responses and strategies)

- D - Rumination about the situation (Worrying and overthinking about what might happen, what might go wrong, performance anxiety thinking)

When you are challenged at work with a situation or event (A) set aside time to prepare for the situation (B) and think through your ideal responses (C).

If you find it very difficult not to ruminate about the situation, set aside 20 minutes for some 'worry time'.

If you follow this formula, you will be well prepared for the situation or event, and by drastically reducing the amount of overthinking, you will experience the situation in a much less anxious way.

3. It's OK to Ask For help

In my experience, humans are always very willing to help other humans. This is particularly the case at work where, in most organisations, a healthy dose of teamwork and collaboration helps to breed cooperation amongst employees.

Paradoxically, I have found that most people don't like to ask for help from other people. This can be seen as embarrassing. But think about it, how did you feel last time somebody asked you for help? If you are like most people, you probably felt a connection with the person and also felt pretty good about being asked.

Combine this new insight with your own need to get support and seek out colleagues or connections who can help you.

Finally, remember …

Whatever happens, it will be OK

Even in a worst-case career scenario, there will always be positive outcomes. This might be an opportunity to look for a new job, learn a vital career lesson or build some more resilience.

Also, remember that tough times rarely last for a long time. Remind yourself that any difficulty you might be dealing with won't last and you are likely to be in a better place soon.

Interested to find out more about career resilience? Check out my Get Career Resilient - Transformation in 10 days programme.

This Programme will support you to navigate the challenges of life and your career and in doing so achieve happiness and long-term success.

I hope this article helps you to build more career resilience.

Bye for now!

Mark