Future Learn (Free online courses) : Professional Resilience

I'm doing this online and free course hosted by Future Learn on Professional Resilience (2 weeks long or there abouts). If anyone fancies joining me, I'll be there!

Here's a taster of the first class... I'll be posting occasionally below (I hope!) some of the questions and my answers.

"Let's get started

Contemporary life is stressful, and we all need to become more resilient both personally and professionally.

Resilience is commonly thought of as the capacity to ‘bounce back’ after stressful life events, but it’s also far more complex than that.

What you’ll be learning. In this course you’ll:

explore different definitions of resilience
discover how you can learn to become more resilient
investigate how resilience contributes to career success
explore the role of organisations and communities in building resilience
produce your own resilience plan.

The big question we’ll be working together to answer is: how can we learn to be more resilient?"

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/professional-resilience/5/steps/501536https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/professional-resilience/5/steps/501536

Have a nice day folks, and catch ya later!

What do you think of the phrase ‘vulnerable but invincible’ used by Werner to describe children from troubled backgrounds who thrived into adulthood?

The phrase is a bit of a paradox. Vulnerable- to be easily overwhelmed, hurt or perhaps *AT RISK*. Invincible- undaunted, strong, *NO RISK* of danger. If we look at life and nature, it's fairly easy to see that things change and that very little lasts the test of time. In this sense, nothing is invincible and everything is at least a little vulnerable. That's life! Rephrased, 'vulnerable but invincible' could mean that these people were subjectively seen as AT RISK (of... danger danger!) and yet had a clear strength about them (Despite the risk). Reminds me of tightrope walkers or performers in a way.

Do you think being resilient and being invincible are the same things? Why or why not?

Nope. Being resilient is a feasible realistic norm for us. We're under pressure (e.g. gravity) all the time but we cope due to the way our bodies are. Being invincible relates to being unmoved or unchanged (Unreal expectation). For those who believe they are, it might be a helpful belief (maybe a placebo of sorts?) but I don't believe I am!

What do you think becoming ‘more generative’ might mean for you in terms of building your everyday resilience in preparation for times of future need?

On first thoughts, I thought this might refer to taking care of oneself. Doing exercise, eating and sleeping well, having people you love nearby... This would in theory make me happier and might make me more resilient to stress. But part of this seems more like maintenance as opposed to being generative or building resilience.

Being generative implies to me doing something more or doing something different. So perhaps it's more about going out of my comfort zone, investing time and energy in new ways (to how I exercise, eat, sleep and to my relationships...)

Thinking about my body, it produces (or generates) heat. It does this automatically regardless of whether I sit in a chair all day or go on a 6 mile hike (Although the amount of heat will vary). However for me to generate heat my body needs energy. So to be more generative might also mean to be more rest in a way. A bit like your muscles only grow in the rest periods between work-outs perhaps being more generative requires good rest periods as well.

Unsure I have an answer!

---

As part of this defining resilience, they suggested this TED talk: Crack your shell. It's touching and makes me think... How can I go outside of my comfort zone (if only a little?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTj1bv6T9ds

Here's a copied lesson from the course with a reference to Luke Skywalker thinking about resilience

"Can we learn resilience?
Popular culture tells us heroes are special, but resilience research tells us there are plenty of everyday heroes.

Luke Skywalker, the original hero of the Star Wars films, exemplifies what’s known as the hero’s journey. His family and village are destroyed, and he sets off to face unknown tests to restore balance to his life and his community.

He certainly has to be resilient to overcome all the challenges thrown at him.

Film heroes who go on these kinds of adventures often simply crash through with one ingenious stunt after another. Star Wars has plenty of stunts, but it also presents Luke’s adventure as a process of coming to trust his inner voice.

Luke not only learns from the wise master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the earthy Han Solo, but also learns to draw on his own inner strength and resources. He learns to trust ‘the Force’.

This is what psychologists would call developing a sense of ‘self-efficacy’: a confidence in your ability to complete the task at hand. This is a complex skill to learn, but it can be learnt and it’s crucial to developing resilience.

Developing self-efficacy involves learning to focus our attention. It involves learning to set aside those nagging internal voices of self-doubt. It involves learning to reflect on our past successes and failures as guides for future success.

There’s no proven set of steps or guidebook for learning resilience. However, research is beginning to uncover a linked set of skills and capacities – like self-efficacy – that can open up more resilient responses.

Each of these skills and capacities can be developed and improved. When taken together they enable you to learn important ways to increase resilience in your life.

Your task
‘Use the force, Luke’ – the voice of his mentor that Luke Skywalker hears at crucial moments in his journey – has become a poster, a cliche and a joke. Yet it expresses something important about our ability to overcome the odds when we find our inner resolve.

Have there been times in your life where you’ve made decisions based on trusting your inner instinct?
What gets in the way of this?
What types of skills do we need to develop to help us differentiate between a helpful inner voice and a reckless impulse?
Share your thoughts and stories in the comments and reply to at least one other learner to extend the discussion."

Speaking making some heat, have you seen this;
https://www.pnas.org/content/111/2/646