Reflective Essay on Resilience

Introduction

The topic I chose to focus on over the three-week timetabled period was resilience. From part A of the assignment I learned different theories and interpretations surrounding resilience. Through part A and further research, I found a range of different activities focused on the development and improvement of personal resilience. The activities I picked to perform, track and interpret over the three weeks documented in my timeline each had different effects on me and those who were involved in the whole experience. The timeline shown below details the order things were carried out over the time period.

Implementation

I decided the best way to start the 3 weeks would be to get a gauge and good understanding of my personal level of resilience. The activity I did on the first day was a quick resilience inventory quiz. (Reference) After scoring myself on the test numerically I identified the lowest contributors to my score (the higher score the more resilient). Out of the nine questions in the quiz, I found the ones that contributed the lowest scores were; feelings of anger, loss, and discouragement don’t last long, and I’m playful. I find humor in rough situations and can laugh at myself. (Reference) After identifying these I then asked myself, “Is there any correlation or linking factor between these two particular questions?” I came up with one word that could summarise both questions, positivity, to be specific the lack of it. After identifying this I set out trying to find the best activity to develop and improve this aspect that was restricting or limiting my full potential to display resilience. I chose to only focus on one factor as I thought it would be more rewarding seeing the change from the start of the time period to the end as more time could be spent on one particular element rather than seeing minor changes over a different range of contributing factors.

After searching through a few different activities, I found one that would suit the three weeks I had to improve and develop my resilience. Titled Three Good Things Activity, it simply involves doing as the title says and writing down three good things that happened during the day. I decided I would do this every night for the three-week period except on the final night where I would redo the inventory quiz. The second activity I would do daily was reading a book. The book I chose to read and complete over the period was ‘When the Dust Settles’, by Rob Cook with Carl Curtain, my decision to choose this book was based on the fact it was extremely relatable to the topic and secondly, I am from a farm myself, like the subject of the book. It is an autobiography about a man who goes from running the most remote cattle station in Australia to being a quadriplegic and then on his road to recovery. This book showcases someone else’s resilience and also puts into perspective our own lives in comparison to others.

The third activity I included in the timetable is something that I do every winter which is play rugby. I decided to include this as personally I feel it provides me with great social connection and also a group environment that promotes teamwork and hard work, built by individual effort and involvement. Over the years I have found rugby a good way to stay fit but also grow and meet new people, these interactions as long as personal development I felt helped with my own resilience. Lastly, at one of the monthly meetings at work, I presented a small slide show on resilience as a way of cementing what I had learned over my three weeks of reflection and recording but also passing on some valuable knowledge to work colleagues.

Summary and reflection

After taking the resilience inventory quiz and scoring a 32 out of 45 (appendix figure 1.), my resilience was ranked in the adequate resilience band. I was not surprised that I showed a decent level of resilience as personally I feel I am quite good at trying again at things when they don’t work out the first time or even just moving past and forward past minor setbacks. After growing up on a farm and my family still living on a farm I would say a lot of my resilience comes from the way I was raised, working from a young age and completing jobs by myself of importance when no one else was around to do them.

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After reflecting on my score in the resilience test I found an exercise to help me boost the factors that were letting me down the most which were both to do with positivity, the Three Good Things Activity. The first night came around and I wrote down three good things (appendix figure 3-5). To be quite honest it took me a while to find positives. I wasn’t surprised at this however as naturally, we find negatives to stick out more, and personally, I think I tend to dwell on things that go wrong when analyzing or reflecting on my day. As the week went on however I found it was taking less time to find positives. Moving into the second and third week I found there was greater diversity in the positives that I was recording. I felt this was progress and was impressed at how well the exercise had worked, it was easier to find positives when reflecting at night and also I found problems in the day were becoming less of a burden to me as I recalled past experiences and feelings from these that was boosted by my journal recording I had been making. I had underestimated this exercise at the start of the 3 week period but it actually works really well. Complementarily when re-focusing and sitting the inventory quiz my score went up 5 points to 37 (appendix figure 2.).

The journey that reading ‘When the Dust Settles’ (appendix figure 6-7) was probably the most powerful exercise throughout the 3 week period. Personally, I am not a big book reader, I’ll admit this is probably the fourth book I have ever finished. However, the powerful connection and feeling I developed to the main figure in this autobiography, really helped me develop strong empathy and perspective of all the tough situations I have ever encountered. To become a quadriplegic would be enough for most people to say that’s enough, I am nothing I don’t want to go on anymore just let me sit in bed and feel sorry for myself. However, Rob Cook, claws back to life, not a normal life but fully returns to his old home in the most remote part of Australia. He has faith in himself and cherishes the support around him. The boost and positivity I have drawn from this book I think will stay with me for a long period of time, not only for the sake of this exercise but just generally I am glad I read the book.

Summarising the three-week period of the rugby season I chose to include in the timetable was practical but also the three weeks that were included a lot happened and changed within this part of my life. I went from 1st grade to second grade and then back to first grade. This has happened to me before however it still usually does cause a little bit of personal disappointment. This time was no different I felt disappointed when getting dropped grades but then realized the reasons I play rugby such as the people I meet, the competitive nature, and the club aspect of the sport. I think my positive journal recording helped me realize this quicker than I may have previous times, prompting the realization of improved resilience.

Finally, the presentation I did at work (appendix figure 8-10). Reflecting on this exercise, its impact on me was not as great as the previously listed exercises. However, I think that its purpose is not to improve my resilience but just to remind me of everything I learned over the 3 weeks in the timetable. I presented to the work group about resilience in general but my interpretation when I think of the presentation will remind me of positive thinking in boosting resilience and also putting things into perspective. A short-term problem or setback is by no means the end of the world, it is important to note and mentally record the situation but dwelling on it and negative thinking doesn’t really help in any way.

When posed with the prospect of managing in the future and cultivating resilience in the workplace, I think it is very important to develop a strong environment that enables resilient people to improve but also to share and interact with those who may not have the same level of resilience as themselves either more or less. This 3-week exercise I have very much enjoyed and am grateful that I had to do it as part of my studies. In the future, it will help me try and promote positivity in workplaces as well as reflection. Reflection on personal resilience as well as the study of others' journey and development of resilience which I found very powerful throughout the 3 weeks.