Life does not always operate on straight lines. In fact, it never does. And no one gets through life without experiencing some sort of adversity – from family to health to work-related issues.
You will agree with me that, it is not the adversities or the tragedies that we face in all aspects of our lives that matters a lot, it is how we choose to respond to them is the most important factor.
When it comes to work, adversity comes in different forms; such as hard-to-deal-with co-workers, impossible deadlines, communication problems with your boss, long hours among other number of issues that makes your day at work feel like a two second sit on a hot pan.
But how do you deal with it? How do you deal with adversity at work?
The obvious honest answer to that can only be to develop your own personal resilience. To always bounce back every time you get a knockdown and boost your morale and move forward.
But that is not easy doing either, and so you need concrete reasons tocarry you through.
Here are a few things that you can do to combat adversity at work effectively.
Be confident
Being confident is a door to many avenues that generate happiness, andoften we are not confident because we are afraid of what people might think if we do or say certain things.
To become more confident, we must recognize that rejection and socially awkward moments with coworkers are just a part of life.
Everyone does them, everyone says the wrong from time to time.
Rejection is normal and natural, and is a necessary part of building social skills and eventually becoming more confident and effective.
Not everyone will like you
Stop going around expecting everyone at the workplace to like you, especially after being that smart in those work meetings. It is not possible.
Not everyone will be happy for you at the work place when you do exemplary well, because many people hate competition.
So it is good that you always know that you can’t be valuable and effective at the workplace and please everyone at the same time. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but it will keep you psychologically prepared
Have a sense of purpose in life
So much of what we experience in life and how we interpret events around us is governed by our minds. And while we cannot simply decide to have a positive outlook, with dedicated effort, we can reframe much of how we view things around us.
Meditation, yoga, journaling and other techniques are fun and effective techniques to center ourselves, and give us time to think about not only the good things in life, but what we want to accomplish professionally.
Be futuristic
Sometimes the immediate adversity we are facing at work will actually help us in the long run. Having to find better ways to communicate with your team may help you with any new staff you bring in later.
Extra hours this month may open up your schedule for that vacation you have been hoping for next month. Attending an inconvenient training course, which may require you to be away from the office, can help you develop skills that will help you for years to come.
We should all aim to be strategic in how we spend our time and the more long-term our focus, the better.
Learn to smile and listen
Didn’t you want to be a talkative? You have to wait a minute there.
See, everyone is thinking about themselves all the time. We really don’t want to hear what you have to say when we have our own stories to tell.
So, the best thing you can do is to learn the patience to smile and listen to your colleagues as they rattle on about themselves. This will create an attitude of calm, then you’d get your turn to talk and they’ll listen.
Welcome change
It is always better to know that, in life, changes are inevitable. Be it for better or worse – it all depends how we look at it. And each of us is probably facing a certain degree of change at work on a daily basis. If you can accept that change is good and that innovation and progress are driven by change, you can view any adversity at work through a different lens.
Befriend talkative workmates
Who are the people at your place of work that their mouths never stop moving? Go hang out with them more. Chances are that, soon they will force you out of your comfort zone and you’ll be a talkative too.And that way you will be able talk about what you are going through at work and hopefully seek emotional support.
Building our resilience helps us overcome adversity and sometimes shows us that the mountain in front of us is really a molehill. Take the time build your own armor, focus on your long-term strength and success and life will take care of the rest.
By Derrick Mwangi
