Recent research for the Reconomy Centre shows that the quality entrepreneurs value most is resilience: to be able to take the knocks, weather the storm, and somehow still come back for more with a smile on their face.

Getting involved with trying to leave the world a bit better than we found it has its ups and downs. The inspiration and the excitement of working with kindred spirits, the satisfaction of seeing people moved or changed, stretching your talents – even getting paid for it – all fulfil the promise of what you came here to do.

But there is also a range of unpleasant feelings: overwhelm, doubt and anxiety. How can you possibly get it all done, and how can it be good enough anyway? And the self- judgements – who do I think I am taking this on? What do other people think of me and how can I manage that? Looking around you notice others seem to be getting on with it despite set backs. They don’t look like they have a permanent knot in their stomach or a constant nagging anxiety.

So what does resilience look like? I suggest it is trusting yourself that in any situation, however challenging, you have access to inner wisdom and clarity to know what to do in the moment. And although being human, you may sometimes feel insecure, stressed or self critical, you deeply know that those feelings are not based on anything that is ‘true’ and that they are transitory. It may look as if the feelings are coming from outside circumstances or from some past conditioning, but you do know they are to do with temporary thoughts and reactions. So no tools or techniques are needed – just a simple and profound understanding of how we create our experience.

I recently ran a series of workshops at the Reconomy Centre where w explored all of this called Accessing your Inner Resilience. It was such a success – I’m running them again. Some of the comments from participants included:

‘I had fresh insights which have given me an extraordinary lightness and clarity that it’s not on me to fix everything.’

‘It is something that sort of sinks in subliminally. After the last workshop I was in a situation where I could have let myself get quite upset and annoyed – and I was consciously aware that the way I thought about would affect the way I felt about it and I was able to let go.’

‘I loved being immersed in the inside/our way of looking at things. Erica held the group really well and brought each of us insights about how we could see ourselves, our situations and relationships more clearly’

‘I have seen for myself that I do not need fixing. I am a naturally resilient person and I do not need to read endless self-help books to re-build this. It is an innate quality that we all share. It just gets a little disguised sometimes. I have seen for myself that our experience is only ever one thought thick. This has helped me to stay more present with my day-to-day experiences and to be more accepting of life’s ebbs and flows. It’s also allowed me to be more compassionate towards myself and not push away my negative emotions/reaction but rather extend the arm of friendship and embrace them. I feel lighter and I find myself less entangled with my thoughts and emotions’

Please join me on Thursday 4 October at 6.30 for a FREE taster workshop at the REconomy Centre which will then be followed by a series of 7 weekly workshops. Cost for the whole course £65 (or whatever you can afford). To book either e-mail erica@inspiringaction.co.uk or phone/ text 07790 177146.