From the course: Building Resilience

Assessing and building external resources

From the course: Building Resilience

Assessing and building external resources

“

There's an African proverb that says, "if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." To be resilient, through the journey of life, you'll need to develop and make use of external resources. External resources are the people, communities and services that you can turn to when you need support or encouragement. When going through a tough time, it can be hard to remember what options you have available to you. So let's take some time now to assess your external resources. You can list these things next to the internal resources you wrote down in the last video. First, think of the relationships you can turn to and lean on when you need support. This might be family members, friends, mentors, or a therapist. It might be a boss, a teacher, or a spiritual leader. Write down every single person who you could call if you needed help. Next, think about the communities and services you have available to you. Things like online communities, professional networks, support groups. You can also add things like self-help books or online classes or courses like this one. Write down anything that comes to mind. Now take a look at everything you've written down. Are there any gaps that you might want to fill? Maybe you realize you need to strengthen your professional network, or that you'd benefit from joining a support group. Building external resources takes time and effort, but it's a practice that will pay off. And of course, all the support in the world won't be helpful if you're not willing to make use of it. In fact, I want you to practice today by asking one small favor from someone in your life. This could be as simple as jumping on the phone with you if you have a long drive, or sharing some feedback about a project you're working on. Who are you going to ask and for what? As you look over the list that you've created of your internal and external resources, how does it feel to see it all on one page? Is it empowering to realize that you do have resources? Keep this list somewhere accessible and revisit it anytime you're facing a challenge.

Contents