Many clients complain about getting burnt out and not having the motivation to keep pushing through the struggles of entrepreneurship.
In this great article from the Harvard Business Review, University of Pennsylvania psychology researcher and best selling author Michelle Gielan discusses how effective recovery periods is the key to resilience.
We often take a militaristic, “tough” approach to resilience….However, this entire conception is scientifically inaccurate.
The very lack of a recovery period is dramatically holding back our collective ability to be resilience and successful…We “stop” work sometimes at 5PM but then we spend the night wrestling with solution to work….The key to resilience is trying really hard, then stopping, recovering, and then trying again.
So how do we recover and build resilience? If you’re trying to build resilience at work, you need adequate internal and external recovery periods: Internal recover refers to the shorter periods of relaxation that take place within the frames of the workday by shifting attention or changing to other tasks. External recovery refers to actions that take place outside of work – e.g. in the free time between the workdays, and during weekends, holidays or vacations.
Another great book on the topic of resilience is Grit by Angela Duckworth. In it she discusses that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.”