Resilience expert Heidi Dening says those struggling during lockdown should be encouraged to reach out for help.
The author and award-winning keynote speaker who talked through resilience-building strategies at a webinar during the first round of COVID-19 lockdowns returned to give the FINSIA Podcast some updated advice.
Heidi, who has overcoming potentially life defining setbacks including paralysis, being kidnapped at gunpoint and facing a tsunami, said: “People are really struggling.
“I think that's one thing that's come out of this last year that there's been a little bit of the stigma taken off the fact that we are wobbly, as I like to say. We are wobbly and it's okay.
“To me, if you can reach out, that shows you have a lot of courage, because it does take courage to reach out when things are not going well. And for you to say, "Hey, I'm actually not okay right now. Can you help me?”
'Her Middle Name Is Courage’ author Heidi acknowledged the constant bombardment of bad news left people at a low ebb, but did highlight three strategies to face up to that.
“We find ourselves daily getting into that really low state where we're feeling overwhelmed and just in that meh, in a slump,” she says.
“We've got situations where we've scrolled the news and it doesn't look good and it's made us feel pretty foul. Or we've got off a call with a customer that they'd been really cranky at us and we're trying to do our best.
“Yet people are coming at us left, right and centre. Or we're just looking at our profit and loss statements and they're not looking as good as we would hope, and you get that feeling.
“But you still have to show up and you might have to lead a meeting, you might have to pitch for new business, you might have to get on with your best customer who's not happy with you, so you've got to change your state.
“How do you do that when you are feeling really low and not so great, but you've got to show up still and you've got to change your state? There are three things that you can do.
“The first one is laughter. Find that one thing that makes you laugh. It might be someone on social media, someone who tells really good joke. Or you might love cat videos or whatever it might be.
“The second one is movement. Best case scenario, you can walk outside, get some fresh air, feel the sun. If you can't, there's different stretches you can do from your chair. Just get up, sit down, get up, up, down off your chair, like you're doing a squat 10 times, run on the spot really quickly, whatever that might be. But move your body, get the blood flowing, because that can change your state really quickly.
“The third and final one is music. Music just has this way of really getting into ourselves. We all have that one song that we absolutely love. Bookmark that song, so you can quickly listen to it.”
Check out the FINSIA Podcast to find out Heidi’s favourite as well as more details about dealing with the latest lockdowns.
FINSIA members can also read more details about her Resilience Building Strategies here:
