How’s Your Bouncebackability?
It’s a funny word Bouncebackability because, well, it wasn’t a word at all until 2004.
It was first used by ex-football player and Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie, when he was asked about his side’s resilience in rebounding from an almost certain defeat.
Of course, he could have used the word resilience, but he chose not to and instead made one up that — for me at least — summed up what had just happened. Performance hadn’t been great, stress and anxiety were high, but the team redoubled their efforts after half-time and ‘bounced back’.
That’s not to say that the team went from dead last to first, they’d simply found a way to overcome the adversity they found themselves in, concentrated on improving some small elements of their game, then worked together to make their ambition a reality.
Life is like that.
It’s not all avocado chips and single malt whisky. Not for me, anyway.
My own personal bouncebackability stores have been low recently. As a result of the impact of COVID-19 and some health issues, I have had a series of ups and downs. The family has felt it too.
I want to tell you that I took a spoonful of my own medicine, went to bed and got up the next day highly energised and ready to get stuck in again! I want to tell you that but I can’t; it didn’t happen.
It took me a couple of days. A couple of days to talk more about how I was feeling. A couple of days to come to terms with the restricted world I’m living in now and a couple of days to figure out the small things that I needed to do to get my mojo back, as Austin Powers would say.
Most people will be in a similar situation given the uncertainty, anxiety and stress we’ve all had to face so far this year. The virtual workshops that I’m running for clients right now are very much focused on humanity, connection and collaboration. Ensuring that a safe environment exists where people have empathy for each other, share how they’re coping but who also understand what it takes to get the job done. They define the culture they need to be successful and celebrate the wins on the way to achieving it.
A bit of stress (or ‘eustress’) is a good thing. It helps us to overcome a challenge, which in turn provokes a memory response which we’re able to recall in similar future situations, which in turn makes us more resilient.
However, prolonged stress (or ‘distress’) is a bad thing. This is the ‘fight or flight’ feeling that you have. The one that makes you procrastinate, take rash decisions or causes serious health problems such as depression.
If you’ve got good stores of eustress it helps — but never cures — the distress. But if you haven’t, then you need to find someone to talk to who can help you with the way that you process information about the situation that you find yourself in right now. Here in Australia, BeyondBlue provide fantastic support for mental health issues.
From a productivity point of view we need to navigate our way out of procrastination by unlearning some of the habits that have been formed (anyone else relentlessly checking the news?), challenging the processes that we have and focusing on the small wins to help with personal or group goals.
No-one is immune to this.
We’re conditioned to find the hardest thing we have to do and to try to get it out of the way first, when in reality momentum is key. Getting an ‘easy’ job done provides you with a lift and starts the bouncebackability. Getting a second thing done adds to that, as does a third until you have the energy and desire to go full bounce and address the task you’ve been putting off.
If you’re able to do this on your own, then fabulous. Remember to capture what you’ve learned to help when your bouncebackability stores are low in the future.
If you’re not able to do it, then putting it off will only increase the stress. You need some accountability. Some energy, drive and ideas. Someone to help you perform at a level where you’re happiest and help you refill your resilience stores.
In two weeks time, August 26, I will launch a six-week sprint that will deliver some inspiration, motivation and a set of skills to help you excel today and reinforce your bouncebackability.
The ‘Performing Under Pressure’ program will provide a new video module every week for six weeks, a workbook for you to capture what you’ve learned and the actions to take, plus a weekly text chat check-in with me. There will also be the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with people from around the world as the program is part of the Culture Fix Community.
The program can be done for as little as US$20 or else for US$75 you can gain annual access to the Community, my three evergreen online programs for culture-building, project leadership and emotional intelligence plus of course ‘Performing Under Pressure’ and lots of useful resources. Find out more here.
When times are uncertain and you’re faced with adversity or your resilience levels are low there are always things you can do to re-inflate your bouncebackability.
