Optimizing for Post Traumatic Growth

On average, over 50% of our waking life is spent at work, building, refining and growing skills that increase our value for organizations and the world around us—this value and desire to advance once skill set is often seen in overall revenue and satisfaction. Technological advancements like digital transformations, automation and artificial intelligence will change how we interact with our work.?

In some cases, the rate of change and advancement is comparable to Moore’s law, most notably seen in microchips. Sometimes, that change due to various factors and events accelerates the average rate of change. When these sudden changes impact more than 50% of one’s life, they are often traumatic. It is an event that affects not only the person but also their families and community. Lives are changed, and new paths are forged in an instant.??

How do we prepare for the change that can rewrite our existing way of working??

The first is to recognize and accept change is taking place. The current pace of change stresses our mental and physical states, and our ability to withstand this pressure allows us to grow more resilient.?

Resilience is the ability to cope with difficulty and change. It is when we are unaffected by the disorder caused by events. Resilience is not something we are born with but is cultivated over time based on the situations we encounter. Our ability to bounce back from adversity or setbacks like a rubberband demonstrates how we have grown and built our muscles of resilience. It is a critical ingredient in achieving success in business and life.?

When we are exposed to various forms of trauma and grow from those situations, we call that Post Traumatic Growth or PTG.?

Post traumatic growth is the process by which people deal with trauma and come out stronger and better. The process is sometimes so intense that it often leads to a renewed sense of purpose. Post traumatic growth is a term that refers to positive changes experienced by individuals who have experienced a traumatic event. In contrast to post traumatic stress disorder, it’s a productive and empowering reaction to adversity. PTG is, from this perspective, normal and healthy, and it helps individuals build their “post traumatic maturity” (PTM).?

We have a choice: we can be used by a situation or choose to use the situation.??

How we handle the situation demonstrates how we have matured in our mindsets. Are we looking at the situation as a problem or an opportunity???

Every problem hides within it an opportunity. Our ability to find that opportunity when our world around us has not only changed but is constantly changing determines how we select the path forward.??

If we look at problems as opportunities for growth, we optimize ourselves for growth. Having someone to process all this change for oneself is the most effective way of growing through change-induced trauma.??

Creating a support structure to process the change around us facilitates transition, mindset changes and a plan to execute for the prepared to optimize their journey from the moment of trauma to post traumatic growth.?