Editor鈥檚 note: The Women in Emergency Services (WiES) 鈥淎sk Laurie鈥� column provides advice for those challenges that leave us stressed and overthinking in the workplace. In 鈥淎sk Laurie,鈥� Laurie Thiel, the CEO of Mobile Medical Response in Michigan, hopes to encourage and coach all women proudly serving in EMS.
Have a question? ! Want to see more 鈥淎sk Laurie鈥� questions and responses? Women in Emergency Services and access the member-only community for more.
Q: How can I become more resilient at work?
Laurie Thiel: Unjust, stressful and frustrating situations happen in the workplace all the time that we should expect to encounter. Resilience means working your way through those situations. Women classified as 鈥渞esilient鈥� maintain a sense of control in their thoughts and actions emotionally and mentally. A resilient woman keeps moving forward and doesn鈥檛 let herself get stuck.
Difficult work situations left unaddressed will only continue to linger in your mind, leaving you tired and irritable. You will only replay the situation repeatedly without reaching any solution. It鈥檚 like being on a stationary bike, feeling the exhaustion pulling out of you, but you鈥檙e going nowhere.
Often, our instinct is to run when things get tough at work. We think finding employment elsewhere will fix the situation we鈥檙e currently dealing with, but it doesn鈥檛. It鈥檚 a temporary fix because the problematic situation you or I may be going through today will likely resurface in another job with different people.
There are three tips that I find most useful:
- Make sure you find yourself a mentor who will help you work through challenging situations in a safe space (like a Women in Emergency Services mentor).
- Always work to resolve the issue. Don鈥檛 let things linger on. Take control.
- Practice mindfulness. Those are typically spiritual practices, such as journaling, meditating or quiet prayer time. There are plenty of tips online also to consider.
When my husband passed away, my primary care physician referred to me as resilient. I didn鈥檛 know what that meant at the time, but I鈥檝e learned over time that it simply meant I wasn鈥檛 falling apart mentally or emotionally. During that time, I kept myself very busy physically outdoors to help burn off anxiety and adrenalin. I built some fantastic gardens during that time. And I lean on spiritual practices daily. That means a lot of prayer time, writing and self-reflection.
