Hey guys, welcome. This is Val Campbell. Thanks so much for joining me today for Sunday Morning Leadership. Today my topic: how to be more resilient.
And this is one that really speaks to me personally. I'm going to share some personal examples here real quick. Um, I took this off of a list of an article I was reading, but I thought they made some great points about it. But how to be more resilient? You know, resilience is really our ability to recover quickly from difficulties. It's the ability to bounce back when things are tough. You know, when life throws its curves in, trust me, it will. Um, and resilience, I think, is one of the best tools in our arsenal when dealing with everyday challenges, stresses. You know, whether at work or at home, and again, let's just call it "life," right? Life happens. And we need, we need to learn, we need to know how to bounce back. We need to learn how to be more resilient.
So it's really your ability to bounce back from a failure. You know, business failure, financial failure—we've gone through personal bankruptcy, so I know all about that—but stress, trauma, tragedy, and even major health concerns. I was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2018. That's what I would consider a major health concern. Um, but how you, how our ability to deal with those type of things is going to depend on our level of resilience. So the more resilience that you are, that I am, the better that we will be able to cope with difficulties in our lives and maintain well-being. Let's remember, you know, everyone has some degree of resilience, right? But there are some people that develop it more uh than others, right? And so basically, I'm gonna give you 10 ways to be more resilient. Um, and here we go on the list, right?
Number one is be open to new ideas. I think it's just keeping an open mind, but I think this is critical, especially when, as I was dealing with my cancer, I had to be open to new ideas. I loved my doctor, my oncologist, and that, but I researched and found out about naturopathic, some of the history of cancer, working with a clinical nutritionist, those type of things. And tied in with it really is number two: don't be afraid of the unknown, right? Change is uncomfortable. None of us kind of, I think, jump head first into change. We resist it a bit. But don't be afraid of the unknown, right? I've talked about this, especially... I'll get into this the next one coming up actually. But thirdly is don't let your emotions control you. And this is where you have to be self-aware. You've got to have a high emotional IQ so you don't allow your emotions to control you, right? We all have emotions; we need to keep them under control.
Fourth is be grateful for what you already have, guys, right? Have an attitude of gratitude. We have so much more here, especially in the US, than so many other people in other parts of the world. I think just specifically Africa, where people there are literally starving, they have little to no resources at all. So we need to be thankful for what we've got. And then fifth is keep your self-esteem high no matter what life throws at you. Again, it will throw things at you, but—and I speak from experience on this—um, keep your self-esteem high. It's, it can be tough, but your self-belief, your belief in yourself, it's critical that you keep a good self-image through the stuff that life throws at you. And I've had a ton thrown at me, and I've worked on my self-image. So it's easier said than done.
Number six is know that nothing lasts forever and that change is inevitable. I've done a couple videos on the exponential age, guys. Change is hitting us at an ever-increasing pace in our world today. Uh, nothing lasts forever. One of the things that stands out to me here is one of the most well-known verses in the Bible, Psalm, the 23rd Psalm, right? But David writes, you know, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." He's not staying there, not camping there. But nothing lasts forever, okay? So keep that in mind.
Uh, seventh is really, I think, the ultimate definition of resilience: is being able to bounce back from obstacles and setbacks. You know, if you haven't had yours, you will, guys. Life will throw, put obstacles in your way. You will have setbacks. We've had our share of them; I've had my share of them.
Number eight is embrace change as an opportunity for growth. I'm going to hit that a little bit more in depth, number 10 here, but change really is an opportunity to grow, right? If you don't change, you could end up going backwards. I've talked about this, kind of like if you quit paddling upstream, you're going to start flowing back down. So you embrace change as an opportunity for your own personal growth, your own personal development.
Number nine is know how to ask for help, right? The only dumb question is the one you don't ask. So reach out, ask for help. Don't feel weak or ashamed about it. You know, if I can be of help to you in any way, uh, within my area of knowledge or expertise, please feel free to reach out. But if you've got resources, reach out. Ask people. Ask for help. Ask for information if you need it, okay?
And then lastly is you've got to be able to see difficult times as opportunities for personal growth, personal development. Mine was really 2018, one of the most difficult years I've ever had without question, when I was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. But I took that as an opportunity for personal growth, educating myself about cancer, alternative treatments, and understanding what I was dealing with and what the best options were for me, and many other ways too. But you can use those difficult times as opportunities to grow personally. I hope you do, guys. I hope this list was helpful. The topic: how to be more resilient. How can you be more resilient? I'd like to hear some additional ways. What did you think of this list? What would you add to it? But guys, let me know. I'd love to hear back from you. And as always, guys, thanks so much for tuning in today and have an awesome Monday.