9 KATE SOLOMONS Kate is a Clinical Director at The TraumaClinic Foundation and holds a Master of Social Science in psychology. The Mail & Guardian honoured her as part of their Top 200 Young South Africans.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. – MAYA ANGELOU
Resilience, stress tolerance
& flexibility
Resilience! Stress tolerance! Flexibility! Grit! – You have probably heard these terms many times in the past few months, thrown around in the world of work as we are moving forward during a pandemic. But what exactly do these expressions mean? Resilience is the ability we develop to withstand adversity and allows us to recover fairly quickly from tough events. Stress tolerance is the threshold at which we can effectively and consistently deal with stressful situations. And lastly, flexibility, which in this context is the ability to adapt to change. All of these come together to form a significant predictor of success: grit. Grit is the ability to be courageously persistent, even when life is harsh, difficult, or unpleasant. Angela Duckworth, the author of the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, defines Grit as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. “Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.” We all know that the pandemic could be the model situation as to nurture and refine these abilities. So, how can we develop and expand on them?
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