During these most unusual days I’ve made it a goal over the past few weeks to spend at least part of my time interacting with family, friends, and coaching clients challenging them to think about how they can become more resilient.
Merriam-Webster’s defines resilient as tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change, as well as capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture.
Interpreted in light of this spring’s current events, the concept of being resilient implies much, much more than simply surviving life’s challenges (despite the media’s incessant droning on about survival). The world and her collected humanity have seen many a pandemic before, and will so again; the resiliency of the human race is damned impressive, and the historical record of such seems much under-appreciated these days.
So how might one become more resilient?
Becoming More Resilient: You Are What You Eat
The phrase “you are what you eat” is oft attributed to Anthelme Brillat-Savarin who wrote, in Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, 1826: “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.” (Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are).
Whether or not that attribution is correct, there’s no doubt at this point in time that the food we partake is the single most critical determinant of our long-term health and wellness.
My own story is a perfect example of this, and if you’ve not yet made the choice to eat to pursue optimal health, now’s the perfect time to jump in. The challenge of course if finding the right food plan for your unique physiology and circumstances; following some common-sense principles will lead you, more quickly than you might imagine, to a plan that works. (Need some help sorting out options? I can help).
Becoming More Resilient: Lean Body Mass Wins the Day
The fact that lean body mass correlates directly with a human’s ability to survive disease and disaster has been long established; modern medicine, along with popular society, seem to have forgotten this simple axiom, with devastating results.
Need a refresher on lean body mass? Read more here.
As data pours in related to COVID-19, obesity appears to be the single most significant co-morbidity reported, particularly in younger age bands. It doesn’t matter where you are today, get started now.
Becoming More Resilient: Functional Fitness Matters More than Ever
Maintaining functional fitness throughout life doesn’t require mind-boggling commitments of time, effort, or resources, yet might yield the most impressive returns over time of any investment of time, effort, or resources you can make, ever. By simply walking (perhaps with an occasional sprint throw in for fun and good measure) and completing thoughtfully specific body weight exercises, impressive fitness levels can be gained (and maintained).
And as an added bonus, recent data (take this report from UVA within the past week) shows impressive exercise-induced benefits in battling viral invaders and recovering from their impacts.
Volumes have been written about the beneficial impacts that exercise has on human physiology (and mind/spirit); now more than ever you need to lace up those walking shoes and get to it.
Becoming More Resilient: Connections Count
It’s damned revealing that during a time in history when humanity is ostensibly more connected than ever by technology, in reality time spent wandering through the morass of social media clearly makes us less happy, less productive, and we’re reporting a sense of loneliness at near epidemic levels.
Genuine and authentic connections with other humans count. We all need a trusted circle of friends and family; I get it that not everyone wants to play, but you need to find those that do, and work hand in hand to develop authentic relationships you can lean on when the waters of life grow rough (they inevitably do at some point).
By the way, my wife and I have found that the deepest and best relationships we’ve shared with friends over time have grown organically out of shared experiences pursuing worthy activities helping others.
Becoming More Resilient: Purpose, Problem Solving, and Pivots
A fascinating principle was taught to me by a mentor years ago, and it was ironically related to purpose. His argument was that the most successful people in world history, with few exceptions, were those who chartered their life course around helping others solve or fix some problem faced in every day life.
One of his key points was that life on this globe always has (and always will) present for most of us challenges that at times seem overwhelming; it’s inescapable and at times a harsh reality, yet with every challenge comes an opportunity to adapt, change, improve, grow, and perhaps even help others along the way. Having a strong purpose in life can make problem solving good (or great) solutions even more accessible.
Finally, rarely does life proceed according to our best crafted plans. The ability to problem solve and pivot to something adjacent or new is an impressive skill that takes some cultivating and practice. And while your crystal ball predicting your future is a bit cloudy today, with changes coming in society over the next few months there will likely be multiple opportunities to pivot to something new (and maybe even better) coming soon.
Be prepared to pivot for the win.
Leave a Reply