By the time we reach middle age, most of us have tapped into some form of resilience to withstand times in our personal and professional lives that have put us on edge: job changes, health scares, divorce, death and financial struggles among them. While conversations often focus on how we can bolster our Emotional resilience – our feelings about how we handle the pressures of difficulties we face – it’s important to remember that resilience comes in additional forms. Advisors at The Humphreys Group suggest paying attention to these other resiliencies and nurturing them to better manage adversities that may arise with age:
- Physical: your body needs to be able to maintain healthy functions, and to recover quickly and fully when beset by illness. Make sure you’re not skimping on sleep, downtime or exercise that includes an emphasis on breathing (proper breathing techniques help relieve illness-triggering stress).
- Spiritual: as you’ve gone through life no doubt you’ve developed a set of core beliefs and principles that provide you with courage and inspiration in everything you do. Stay true to what supports your sense of purpose and direction; use meditation techniques to help you focus; reserve time for rituals and traditions that are important to you, and reflect on the values and behaviors that guide you toward living your best professional and personal life.
- Social: appreciate the strength community connections provide, especially during stressful times. Create space in your life to develop connections with local organizations and neighbors. Share stories and work together on a project that betters your community. Draw support from the people you’ve made connections with when you’re tested in work or at home. Be prepared to return that support when someone in your community needs it.
- Vocational: not only does this mean you understand your professional strengths and talents, it also means being open to new possibilities when it comes to work and developing the not-as-strong aspects of your professional skill set. Take classes, engage in networking, have the courage to ask for the challenging project, seek mentoring opportunities or consider taking your professional life in a fresh direction.
- Financial: plan for known developments and withstand the unexpected ones by developing a fiscal strategy that grows and changes as your life does. This way you are prepared to meet monetary challenges and ultimately enjoy the effort you’ve put into working hard, maintaining your health, living according to your principles and engaging with your community.
Next, make sure to practice these general behaviors that add strength to each of these resiliencies:
Hone a sense of optimism. Work to stay positive despite setbacks and surround yourself with people who offer positive reinforcement as you go through a difficult time.
Take charge of your personal and professional story. Reframe challenges in your work or life as a learning experiences, or as chances to do things differently than you would have expected from yourself. It takes practice to develop a mindset that views setbacks as opportunities to grow but doing so can reduce stress and help you find the positive in what at first may seem a negative situation.
Give yourself a break. The reality is that life and work can be rocky roads to travel; there are many aspects of our jobs and lives that we can’t control and must try our best not to take personally. So when faced with challenges shift your thinking from “What did I do wrong?” and “What should I have done differently?” Consider how you’ve come through adversity in the past, give yourself credit for your strength and resolve to keep moving forward.
Share what you’ve learned. Look around for ways to offer support and share lessons you’ve learned during times and after experiences that have demanded a lot from you. Being able to express gratitude and an ongoing sense of purpose after trying phases of your work or personal life offer you the chance to continue building an engaged and meaningful support system.
The Humphreys Group realizes there are many ways to build and flex your resiliency muscles. While we can recommend strategies that make the most of each “muscle,” our expertise lies in honing your financial resilience. Our advisors offer support that helps you assess your income, savings, insurance and financial plans, understand your long-term strategies and make educated investment decisions to ensure fiscal security as you age. Don’t sweat this workout as we help you bounce back from setbacks and strengthen how you make smart financial decisions.
