I have written repeatedly around what I call “Proactive Resilience“, otherwise known as “Drink before you are Thirsty” or “You can’t pour from an empty cup“. Variations on this theme are also my single most commonly shared Leadership lesson.
Why?
Simple. Every single client I work with, every single mentee, all could do more in this area. All of them.
Focussing on your own Proactive Resilience is key for all of us, and I find that as our responsibilities towards others grow, whether professionally or personally, we often do not invest at the same level in ourselves and our resilience as we do in supporting others.
I also put my hand up and acknowledge a long pattern of this. As a member of AA might say: “Hi my name is Tom and I have a problem”
My posting is therefore both in service of sharing with others and also of reminding myself to say focussed on my own proactive resilience.
So, yesterday was Sunday, and my riding buddy Sam and I were out for a weekend ride for the first time in over a month (for various reasons). It was glorious. No, not the weather, that was rubbish, but being out, riding a new route, chatting, catching up on news, ideas, what we are currently thinking about. All glorious, then capped off by riding over three hill ridges to be rewarded with, of course, coffee and bacon rolls.
As a closing note, I have written several times around themes of personal awareness and self-responsibility. My tank is almost always full, I drink before I am thirsty. All of that means I have so much to share with others. I hope this post and the others linked from it may help you do more for yourself:
- Sunday Aug 8th: Slowing down and enjoying the wildflowers
- Friday Aug 6th: Are you tired or are you depleted?
- Thursday July 29th: Make the choice to pause
- Monday July 23rd: How could you flex your workday to work with nature?
PS I wrote this late Sunday afternoon to post on Monday morning. I love to write, that is also part of how I fill my cup.