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REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Master Resilience Trainers representing the Army Materiel Command enterprise kicked off an online resilience training series Oct. 13 with a review of the six competencies needed to develop the ability to bounce back from life’s difficulties and challenges.
The 15-week series, which will broadcast on Army 365 Teams at 10 a.m. Thursdays through February, includes sessions focused on the resilience competencies of self-awareness, self-regulation, optimism, mental agility, strength of character and connection. The series theme is “How to Thrive During Life’s Challenges: Boost Your Mental Fitness by Building Your Resilience Toolkit.” The link is: https://dod.teams.microsoft.us/l/meetup-join/19%3adod%3a77c04642f3cc4164a72d216dee1ba771%40thread.skype/1631546976376?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22fae6d70f-954b-4811-92b6-0530d6f84c43%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%226e4fbf4b-9846-434e-9dee-7dfd28fd6599%22%7d. Or dial in at: 1-571-616-7941; Conference ID: 364079350#.
“Our lives are filled with challenges that can leave us feeling stressed, depleted and sometimes even defeated,” said AMC Headquarters Master Resilience Trainer Valerie Francis. “So, to help AMC employees bring their A-game to the fight, our team will take attendees on a journey to learn 14 life-skills to equip them with the resilience to not only tackle life’s challenges but grow and thrive in the midst of them. In the end, employees can feel empowered and confident knowing they can weather the storms of life.”
Joining Francis in leading the series is Tim Rolfe of Infantry Division-Sustainment; Keven Hutchinson of Security Assistance Command; Nick Osterhaus and Lori Owens, both of Army Sustainment Command; and Patricia Hill of Army Contracting Command.
During the kick-off session, the trainers provided the following definitions and examples of the six resilience competencies:
Self-Awareness – The ability to focus on the self, and how actions, thoughts and emotions align with internal standards.
“Simply put, self-awareness is looking at yourself in the mirror,” Francis said. “It's the ability to pay attention to your thoughts, your emotions and how your behaviors react to those thoughts. Once you begin evaluating yourself objectively, you can address behaviors and help counter those thoughts you are having that may interfere with relationships, performance and overall well-being.”
Osterhaus discussed how events or interactions can trigger certain reactions. “Sometimes a simple question can cause us to automatically go on the defensive. Why do we do that? We need to stop and think of the connection internally. All the things that get in the way of us being happy and enjoying life, self-awareness can help us to understand,” Osterhaus said.
Self-Regulation – The ability to manage emotions and behaviors to include impulses, emotional reactions and counter-productive behaviors that hinder us from reaching our goals.
“When we are having strong emotional reactions, our ability to think clearly and rationally can become challenged, causing us to miss critical information that leads us to misinterpret situations,” Rolfe said. “Highly emotional states, like anger or anxiety, often cloud our ability to think accurately. The core-competency of self-regulation focuses on optimizing our effectiveness by regulating our thoughts, reactions and behaviors.”
Hutchinson said when a person becomes more aware of themselves, they also become more aware of patterns – or traps – they fall into when interacting with others or dealing with situations. He shared his experience as a young, enlisted Soldier who would get nervous and anxious when his first sergeant called him into the office. But, taking the time to analyze what had happened over the last several days and how he had dealt with situations would calm him down and turn anxiety into curiosity.
Optimism – Hopefulness and confidence for the future or a successful outcome.
“Optimism is one of the strongest attributes,” Osterhaus said. “Optimism is what you need to be successful. It is what you need to carry yourself through the good times and bad. Carrying an optimistic attitude will help you elevate to good outcomes.”
Francis said an optimistic person doesn’t let the bad things in life – inflation, volatile stock market, shrinking 401Ks, hurricanes, for examples – make them anxious or overwhelmed.
“Step back and focus on what’s in your sphere of control and what’s good in your life – job, family, friends, home, pension, health,” she said. “It can be hard to focus on the positive when we’re bombarded with negativity, but with some practice you can make it happen.”
Mental Agility – The ability to think flexibly, accurately and thoroughly.
“The brain often develops thinking shortcuts that can be helpful in organizing the world around us. But this process also has the potential of getting in the way of an accurate and comprehensive assessment of a situation, ourselves or other people,” Rolfe said. “Mental Agility is the ability to look at situations from multiple angles, and creating this ability to think flexibly, and being willing to try new strategies to increase the likelihood of success.”
Hill said mental agility helps to combat negative thoughts.
“When I think I can’t accomplish a project I use real-time resilience to consider what I bring to the table, why my supervisor gave me this assignment and my qualifications, and I realize I can meet the goal,” she said. “Also, preparing for situations and challenges before they occur can build mental agility to overcome and excel.”
Strength of Character – Knowing character strengths and how they impact how a person thinks, feels and behaves.
“Knowing and using your top character strengths will increase energy and motivation, and result in optimal performance,” Hill said. “When you use your top character strengths, you are able to do your job more efficiently and be a more productive member of a team. When you are working with your top character strengths, you are performing at your peak best.”
Determining character strengths, Owens said, is based on understanding who you are and who you are not and developing yourself to be the best version of who you were meant to be.”
While creativity is one of Owen’s character strengths, self-regulation is not, she said. She compensates for the lesser strength by asking for help from others and utilizing her creativity. For instance, organizing a closet was overwhelming until Owens realized she could organize clothes by color, allowing her to use her creativity to overcome her lesser strength of organization.
Connection – Building a network of friendship and support, both professionally and personally.
“People are social creatures and as such we require a connection in our personal lives. In our professional lives, we also need this connection to not only succeed, but excel,” Hutchinson said.
Connection, Hutchinson said, “relies on building strong relationships, using positive and effective communication, developing empathy, learning to ask others for help, and supporting others. All of these skills will allow one to form connections within their personal and professional lives, allowing us to thrive in everything we do. Connection builds strong relationships, increases one's ability to cope with stress and pressure, and relieves depression and anxiety.”
Owens said in building her own connections, she has learned how to celebrate the good news of those around her without having to share her own stories of accomplishment. Celebrating other people who are in the limelight of success is important to building connections, she said.
The six Master Resilience Trainers emphasized that the resilience competencies – Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Optimism, Mental Agility, Strength of Character and Connection – provide layers of protection against life’s adversities. The resiliency built today gives people the ability to bounce back from future challenges in their lives, they said.
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.19.2022 15:45 |
| Story ID: | 431647 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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