How to AMP Up Your Resilience

We are all capable of incredible resilience. It’s genetically built into your DNA. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to tap into it intentionally — to make a conscious effort to be resilient in the midst of chaos and change. I’d like to share a strategy I’ve picked up through experience and observation that may help you consciously step into a difficult time or transition with meaningful endurance.

However, before I start, I want to acknowledge something important: Even though we are equipped to be resilient and adapt to change — even though we all have the power to be the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete — we shouldn’t have to be that strong all the time.

Resiliency isn’t a badge of honor you wear for its own sake. It’s hard-earned. It shows up when you’d rather it not — when you have no other choice but to be resilient, no choice but to live and grow in less-than-ideal soil. If you have an opportunity to move to more nurturing environments, you should.

But if you cannot — and you have no other way out — you can try this approach to amp up your natural resilience and move consciously through the crack in the concrete. You move with Authenticity, you practice empowered Mindsets, and you center yourself around Purpose. You become like a solenoid — you AMP up and push through.

Activate Your Inner Solenoid

A solenoid creates the strongest magnetic field by using electromagnetic energy to move physical objects. When current flows through a wire, a magnetic field is created around it. If you wrap the wire cylindrically, the layers move in the same direction — enhancing the magnetic field at the center. Place an iron core inside, and the field becomes even stronger.

You are like a solenoid in that way. When you align with your authenticity, your current flows through you without resistance. When you make choices aligned with your purpose, it’s like wrapping that wire around an iron core. You create the kind of magic that can move mountains.

I call this approach AMP:

• Authenticity (your current)
• Mindset (coiling your energy in one direction)
• Purpose (your iron core)

Let’s explore how each one strengthens your resilience.

Authenticity

Why is authenticity important? Because so many of us have been taught that survival means fitting in — not standing out, not making waves. But that’s how we lose our power.

You are at your most powerful when you’re authentic — because you’re not wasting energy being someone else. It takes an insane amount of effort to mask. Ask anyone with autism, ADHD, depression or anxiety. So much of your power is lost in fear.

When you allow yourself to be authentic, your energy and creativity come from a place of love, not fear. And any work you do leads to inspiration, not burnout. This magnifies your impact on yourself and everyone around you. You are at your most creative and resourceful when you are most aligned with authenticity.

Questions to ask yourself to align with authenticity:

• How do I want to show up, regardless of the outcome?
• Who am I when I’m not serving a role — parent, leader, worker, citizen, family?
• What do I love about myself? What do my friends love about me?
• Write about a time when you felt in the flow, like the sun lived inside you, radiating outward. When you weren’t thinking — just flowing — and everything fell into place. At the end of the day, you were exhausted and begging for more. That’s what authenticity feels like. Remember that feeling. Align with it as often as possible.
  

Mindset

Mindset is the work. It’s the harder part — because it has to be intentionally cultivated in the moment and often requires repetition. It requires you to be honest with yourself about what you believe and how those beliefs are serving you, or not. You have to confront your fears, forgive yourself, and choose your beliefs intentionally — sometimes hundreds of times — before they become yours.

For more on how to change a mindset, check out my articles: Mindset Magic and the Top Three Benefits of Coaching.

Questions to help you identify beliefs that don’t belong to you — and choose the ones that do:

• What would I have to believe is true about myself and the world to feel this way? To make these choices?
• If I want to make a different choice this time, what belief or fear am I holding onto that prevents me from seeing that as a legitimate option?
• What would it look like to make choices toward something I love, rather than away from something I fear?

Purpose

Purpose is the anchor. We all know this. Hundreds of books have been written about it — and rightfully so. It’s really important. But it’s also the most difficult to stay focused on, especially when the world is shifting around you, and inside of you, and certainty is a luxury no one can claim.

Purpose is like a deeply rooted tree in a storm. It is whipped about by wind and drenched in oversaturated soil. Yet it has a deep knowing that it will be OK. It doesn’t know how, but it knows it needs to hold on — and that the storm will pass. And when it does, it will still be standing.

That is you in the storm. You are a tree with purpose for roots. Your authenticity gives you the energy to keep choosing. Your mindset helps you stay grounded in the chaos. Your purpose tells you why it matters.

Questions to help solidify your purpose:

• What kind of world do I want to live in?
• What is the impact I want to leave on people when they meet me?
• When they leave my presence, how do I want them to feel?
• How do my authenticity and purpose align?

Final Thoughts

Resilience is not just something we call on in hard times. It’s something we can strengthen through alignment. You don’t have to be the rose in concrete. But when you must be — when there’s no other way out — AMP up your power. Focus on your Authenticity, your Mindset, and your Purpose. That’s how you push through consciously while staying true to who you are and where you want to go.

Nefertiti DiCosmo is a Supervisory Life Scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She is passionate about employee engagement and coaching. Her leadership mantra is, “Prioritize people. Simplify processes. Celebrate progress.”

Photo by Артём Бучацкий at pexels.com