The Key Ingredient for 2019; Resilience! by Felicia Shakespeare

Resilience is defined as ‘the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. The ability to spring back; elasticity. (www.dictionary.com).

As I’ve been out taking care of some much-needed post-holiday back errands these first days of 2019, it’s amazing how if you take note and reflect there are lessons to be learned in the simple things. I’m observing we will have to remain resilient for the outcome that we desire in a situation. Here’s a little backdrop; the week before Thanksgiving my (under 1-year-old) “state of the art” vacuum cleaner went plum out! We all know how cleaning is so integral for preparing for the holidays. After taking the machine back to the store location (you will know the name) where I originally made the purchase, they did not take it back. My general practice is to save the original box of any pricey purchases because the bar code can link it back to the store (this year I vow to now store all paper receipts). The store personnel directed me to the manufacturer.

So I reached out to the manufacturer via phone and after three call attempts to Hoover (on different days) with very long hold times and NOBODY answering, I researched the second option, emailing. After three exchanges over several weeks after Thanksgiving and one internal escalation; the company refused to take their product back (with confirmed serial numbers, manufacturing numbers, barcodes and all)! I could have stopped right there but I didn’t! I did, however, purchase a new “basic” machine in the interim and waited to determine my next move.

This week I decided to go to another store location in the chain to speak to another manager about my experience with the other store and manufacturer. Within seconds I was offered a refund. Finally, after a month and many layers I would receive my refund. This is what resilience looks like! My definition of resilience; NEVER giving up until you gain the results that you want!

Here are three steps to take in 2019 to stay resilient in all you do no matter the circumstance:

1. Stay the course
No matter how rocky the road is, learn to navigate through the obstacles and stay the course. We can’t be moved by visible roadblocks. We walk by faith and not by sight; not falling off by what we see and sometimes what we can’t see!

2. Keep the task at hand before you
We’ve all heard this; “keep your eyes on the prize!” Never forget the outcome that you want or expect to see in your situation when you do the work. Stay focused on that.

3. Never quit
Enough said! I am a firm believer that no is not always the final answer. No for me means “not now” but not necessarily “not ever.”

Let’s start this year out accepting that from time to time there may be obstacles, there will be no’s, but this should not stop you from going for the outcome that you want. Press in, press on in the spirit of resilience!

To learn more about Felicia Shakespeare www.mclass.me Twitter: @iamfelicias