Always Bounce Forward! Never ‘Just’ Bounce Back!
Always Bounce Forward! Never ‘Just’ Bounce Back!
It simply isn’t enough to just bounce back! We have to Bounce Forward in order to make progress and get things done so we can accomplish the Impossible and achieve the Unbelievable!
True Resilience means Bouncing Forward - Not Back!
Make it your Mantra! Don't Bounce Back. Bounce Forward!
Writing this article is close to my heart since Bouncing Forward is True Resilience, Grit and an applied Growth Mindset in a Nutshell - all combined - all in One! The winning formula so to speak!
Resilience is a journey not a destination. It is Progression, Obsession and Evolution on its finest!
Bouncing Back is such a misleading and demotivation term all together. Just consider all those people with a penniless background - no money whatsoever and maybe even dept or battled a long illness, or had dramas all over the place! Bouncing back to that?? Common!
What’s the point of getting back to Baseline (even though baseline might not have been too bad) if we actually have to keep moving forward in lightning speed – faster than anyone else to succeed and do what we are born to do? To become the very best version of ourselves – the Best we can possibly be is the Art of Bouncing Forward in Action & Motion! We simply have to make it the New Norm to come back better & stronger after a setback, a mistake, a loss, defeat or disadvantage!
Make Bouncing Forward the New Normal! I like to use the term Resiliator. This amazing super-word does not only sound a bit like Gladiator, Accelerator, Predator – Resiliator is strongly indicating that we are ready to Bounce Forward and willing to Bounce Forward only! So make sure you become your own Resiliator and Bounce Forward Only from today onwards!
Of course there is no doubt it all comes down to resilience, grit, growth mindset and a never give up mentality. Resilience has become the new trend - a real new buzzword in modern society. Wherever you look there are articles and posts on resilience in the advent of crazy and dangerous times as we are all facing now with Covid 19 or natural and manmade disasters.
My purpose & passion in life is to help and enable people to live a happy, healthy, fulfilled, successful and adventurous life but also building resilience in every individual in the workplace. Everyone in our fast pace, success driven work environment today is faced with constant and relentless change, stress and pressure to perform whether it is driven internally, externally or both.
But real & high level resilience is not just coping and surviving! The benchmark for an insane level of resilience is Bouncing Forward rather than just bouncing back to baseline! The increasing pace of change and the uncertainty it brings, requires the investment in building a resilient workforce if we are serious about reducing illness, sickness, fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression, failure and burnout.
When we address these things in a serious fashion, we reduce mental health issues in the workplace and increase employee health, happiness & engagement, productivity, profitability, creativity, and innovation. All of which are paramount to organizational success & survival.
What does resilience actually mean?
Taking a look in the dictionary resilience is defined as:
“The ability to bounce or spring back into shape, position, etc. after setbacks, failure, loss, mistakes, defeat and so on”
Since the common definition of resilience is just talking about bouncing back to baseline I don’t think it is a good and accurate one. Getting knocked down and getting back up is certainly great! But just getting up and not advancing, moving, adapting, improving or changing means the next knockdown is waiting and programmed already.
Moving Forward – Bouncing Forward– Keep Moving Forward and not locking back is the only answer.
How can you drive a car safely and maybe even driving very fast by constantly locking back? In order to drive safely at any speed we have to look forward and have to have our eyes and concentration on the street to see what is coming our way. Looking and bouncing back is therefore not a winning strategy!
That is not really resilience anyway! Remember if we stop learning, if we stop moving and if we stop rowing we will go backwards. Just holding baseline and returning to baseline after every setback will not get us anywhere. It’s a merciless process. Bouncing Back might not do us any good at all but Bouncing Forward will!
Seriously who really wants to bounce back to 10 years ago? Most likely no one! The world has become such a fast moving rollercoaster world that I don’t even want to be in the position of last year. Looking back one year puts a compassionate smile on my face. If you are not embarrassed by yourself one year ago You have not grown, learned and improved fast enough!
We have to stop bouncing back because nothing has changed. We just got back to where we were before we got knocked down. At some point, we are going to stay down. And that’s definitely not what we want at all because it would mean that game is over!
Therefore, real resilience is not about bouncing back; it is about bouncing forward and bouncing forward only! Resilience can be learned and practiced and to be truly resilient and capable of bouncing forward, we need to be equipped with the right resources, habits, procedures, tools, environment and techniques to do so.
Resilient Leadership has Forward Bouncing Magic written all over it!
What are the steps to becoming a more resilient leader, a leader that is bouncing up and forward rather than ‘just’ bouncing back?
Well there are obviously many, many..!
One important step is to surrender to Difficult Situations. We often resist the Tough, Inconvenient & Challenging Moments in our lives & at work. I often notice that some of my clients & customers don’t want to accept the reality of their challenging situation and therefore give in, give up & accept the unsatisfying outcome. There are many reasons why we do this, whether the situation is too painful, too challenging or we like our current & cosier situation. Often times we simply don’t see the blessing, the opportunity, the incredible chance or purpose of the new outcome or situation. As a result, we delay our actions or run away from them, which only makes them even worse. Whatever we resist persists. It is only when we accept that a situation is changing that we can do something about it. Change is Good! Reframing your mindset to see the possibilities, opportunities & solutions is the way to go & most likely the better option to succeed in our modern fast moving world and Bounce Forward.
Focus on the opportunity in the setback & Bounce Forward!
When you are truly resilient and have developed the life changing ability to bounce forward and keep bouncing forward you:
1. Celebrate failures as well as successes
2. Are better prepared for the next challenge
3. Have a growth mindset
4. View setbacks as learning opportunities
5. Persist, persevere & succeed
6. Are strong minded
7. Apply a winners/champions mindset
8. Maintain a growth mindset and view failure as learning and development opportunities
9. Are confident in your abilities and making good use of strengths and not focusing on weakness
10. Maintain a positive outlook no matter what
11. Accept ambiguity and embrace the uncertainty of constant change
12. Connect, collaborate and succeed
13. Never stop improving and learning
14. Believe that you deserve it. Believe that you can do it!
15. Have a Never Give Up Mentality
16. Believe, Achieve & Succeed
Always remember resilience can be learnt. It is not something you have or don't have.
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Managing Director at Cold Exposure for Disease Prevention
4 年Love the brilliant concept of bouncing forward!
Student at UNSW
4 年Thanks for writing such awesome article! I never thought of it! But it makes so much sense!
Managing Director at Full Circle Movement
4 年Very interesting concept! Love the idea of bouncing forward instead of bouncing back!
Life Coaching Academy (English & German)
4 年Brilliant article! Bouncing forward is the way to go!
Managing Director at Fit4Fun
4 年Great article! Love the idea of Bouncing Forward rather than back!