Resistance Training for Career Growth - A new look at difficult people in our work orbits

If you have been through any kind of resistance training, you will know that in that moment of pushing or pulling against the resistance band it feels exhausting, maybe even frustrating. When you lift the extra weights it can feel tiring and overwhelming. But in your heart you know why you are doing it. You know that this is a journey you have to undertake to strengthen and grow the muscles you are aiming to develop.

What if it is the same in your career growth. That difficult boss, the unreasonable client, the irritating co-worker, the sloppy colleague whose work you have to constantly pick up and do - what if all of them are forms of your resistance training. You just did not think of it that way - at least so far!

I am a recovering chronic complainer, and I get the frustration that you must be going through when you have to meet and work with difficult people as part of your work. I truly get the pain, the irritation, the anger even. Yet, when I look back at every difficult person or situation in my previous roles and workplaces, I realize that each of them has only made me stronger. They have helped me develop my leadership and people muscles without which I could not be functioning in the capacity I now do.?

Without having grown my strength, skills, and wisdom through working with (and even sometimes against) these people I could not have crafted the beautiful career journey that I now am enjoying. I just would not have become the person, the leader, the teacher, the creator, the influencer that I now have become.?

When I bring the gratitude of this realization back with me into my current context - I actually feel even more blessed. I am grateful that even today there are enough sources of resistances in my work sphere. I will confess, I do get frustrated and irritated, but then I have access to a more empowering reframe - and I choose it whenever I remember to.

The reframe is to view the ‘obstacles’ that get created by the 'difficult people' as ‘resistances’, and remember that learning and practicing to face these will only make me stronger. Not just stronger but actually more capable of stepping into the bigger and grander roles that I have envisioned for my future.

You see, I am not the naive twenty year old I once was, to imagine that I can handle the challenges and responsibilities that come as part of 'bigger roles' without having first cultivated the intrinsic capacity to do that. So when I meet my current flock of 'difficult people' I remind myself that life is giving me the exact resistances that I need to train against so that I can grow my capacities further.

What about you? Are you willing to reframe the difficult people you encounter in your work as your customized ‘resistance training’?

Here are 3 key points to remember as you embrace this particular reframe:

Embrace the Challenge: Instead of shying away from difficult people and situations, lean into them. Just as weights push your limits, challenges push your boundaries, ultimately expanding your capabilities beyond what it is currently. However, be mindful of how much challenge or ‘resistance’ you need for growth. If it is too high - it can make you breakout or ‘tear a muscle’. So embrace the challenge, but if the person is too toxic or unbearable for you - please walk away.

Cultivate Patience and Persistence: Just as consistent effort yields results in the gym, your persistence in overcoming obstacles will lead you to long term growth and success in your career crafting journey. If you are seeking immediate results then you will quit the gym. Similarly, this inside out growth method for building capacity, skill and resilience for your career success is a slow process. Remember to give it time, give yourself time, and remember the days of diligent resistance training will pay off in the long run.?

Prepare for Greater Roles: Just as resistance training prepares athletes for greater challenges, your journey through difficult situations primes you for bigger roles and responsibilities. Your strength and experience will make you ready to excel in the opportunities that lie ahead. If you are happy with your current level of strength, you don't need resistance training. You can just do enough cardio and flexibility and stay fit. Resistance training, is chosen specifically for greater capacity building. So get ready to start playing bigger in your career.?

Remember, just like lifting weights challenges your muscles to grow stronger, facing difficult people and situations in your career journey is a necessary part of your mental and emotional resistance training. Every instance of resistance you encounter is shaping you into a leader of unparalleled strength and character. Every obstacle you encounter is an opportunity to hone your interpersonal skills, refine your people strategies, and cultivate the unwavering determination that will propel you toward future greatness.

So, stand tall, embrace the challenges, and reframe each hurdle as a stepping stone on your path to future success. Your career crafting journey is uniquely yours, and the strength you gain from facing the specific resistances that come your way (through difficult people) will become the foundation upon which you build your leadership legacy. YOUR UNIQUE leadership legacy!

Always remember that any reframing that you do is an intentional choice! YOUR CHOICE!?

I am not here to justify the ills or wrongdoings or sloppiness of other people in your life - be they bosses, clients, employees or colleagues. I am not here to tell you whom you should put up with and whom you should walk away from. Those are your choices.?

But once you choose to have them in your life, in your orbit, as part of your career crafting journey - I am inviting you to reframe the obstacles that they create for you as ‘resistances that you can use to become stronger and better skilled’, so that you can be more impactful and capable in the future.?

This is just one of several internal reframes that I teach as part of my inside out career crafting approach. As a career coach, I like to use the metaphor of us being alchemists who are in the process of transforming base metals into gold. When we use this metaphor, each difficult encounter we navigate becomes the next opportunity for us to refine our skills, our focus, our mindsets - ourselves.?

Our career then becomes one ongoing heroic adventure of continuously growing by converting every adversity we face into yet another valuable career (and life) asset.

If you resonate with this approach and want to embark on a road to alchemize your career - as you alchemize your own inner self,? join my career alchemy groups on FB and Linked In.?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/careercrafting

https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/14273482/

Also check out my upcoming 5 day online course to help you craft an abundant portfolio career for yourself?

We have a 90% off as an independence day offering to help you create career independence for yourself - should you seek it! https://courses.craftingourlives.com/single-checkout/64be6c86e4b0330752070b04?pid=p1