The Resilient Professional

In this blog, I want to share with you about resiliency training and how to become the Resilient Professional.

Resiliency training, what is it?

Cold shower challenge

Well, I’ll give you an example. What I do every morning is that I step under a cold shower. Except when I get sick, I try every day to get under that cold shower. I turn the shower set to the left and I just walk right in. This is a very difficult thing for me to do but I still do it. Because it helps me know that I won the first challenge of the day!

It’s a challenging thing to do. I will recommend this only if your medical condition allows it. But I think most people that are relatively healthy should be able to do this challenge. Now, it’s much more difficult in the winter months than it is in the summer months. But I go ahead and win that first challenge of the day!

Don’t hit the Alarm snooze

Meanwhile, some people struggle with a challenge even before hitting the shower. I read a study that stated the majority of people hit the snooze button at least once on their alarm clock. Now, this is not a champion mindset. It’s not unusual for these people to have difficulty waking up after the alarm goes off. If we are the person who wakes up after the alarm goes off, we should learn to turn it off and get to the shower immediately.

Except for the times when I’m sick, I don’t hit the snooze button because I don’t plan to fail. People who hit the snooze button have already planned to fail for the day. They lost their first challenge. Their ability to get up off their bed. The mind is in control of you, you don’t control your mind. So, what you tell your mind through your actions is very important.

When you hit the snooze button and you go back to bed for another 5-10 minutes, your action has informed your brain that you are a lazy person. Now your brain will start to constantly remind you that you’re a lazy person. Any challenge that you face after this will feel difficult.

That’s why resiliency training is so important!

Comfort in the modern world

We live in a very comfortable world right now. We could shop for anything online. Information is accessible to us 24 hours a day. Everything is at our disposal.

But because of this excessive comfort people have become used to, it’s not allowing them to become resilient. And I think that’s probably a reason why depression is going up.

So, it’s our responsibility to take the extra step to try and be more resilient!

Whether it’s going to the gym or reading for one hour a day. If you win these basic challenges, early in the morning. Experiencing difficult challenges in the morning will set you up for a successful day. However, if you fail at them in the morning, then anything you encounter during the day will seem like a catastrophe. It will make you ready to take on all challenges throughout the day.

Trust me walking into a cold shower, going to the gym, or reading for one hour every day is a very difficult thing to do. It’s not fun. But given a comfortable environment expose yourself to a little bit of difficulty. Face a challenge that’s going to be difficult for you. And the rest of the day will feel like a piece of cake.

Lessons from Mike Tyson

This reminds me of an interview given by Mike Tyson, the famous boxer. During this interview he said that he would wake up at 4 AM every single morning, to go out for a run. And the interviewer asked him “Why do you have to wake up at 4 AM? That’s well before the sun comes out. Why not something like 6 AM that’s still pretty early or seven? Why 4 AM?”

And he answered that “no one else was doing it”.

So as you can see, Mike Tyson in his mind has understood the concept of resiliency. Because no one else is doing it, when he wakes up at 4 AM and starts running, his actions inform his mind to think of himself as someone special. And he’s winning at this challenge every single day. So, notice the level of programming that he is doing in his mind.

That is both mental and physical training combined!

He didn’t have to do physical training at 4 AM. He could have gotten that physical training at seven and ran for as many hours as he needed to. Adding resiliency training to the physical training made a huge difference that day. He woke up at four AM, beat the challenge, and the rest of the day became much more pleasant.

So, when you study famous athletes, celebrities, entrepreneurs, or business leaders, you will notice the morning rituals they try to achieve in the form of mini-challenges. And over time they can win bigger and better challenges. But it all starts with the little stuff. It’s what you tell your brain every single day, subconsciously that makes the difference in the long run.

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