Mental strength in the workplace

Words by Andrew Bereza, Sunday 25 October 2015

Being mentally strong is something that not only benefits you, but everyone in your life that you care for or about. Mental strength allows you to perform under pressure and influence situations, to ensure you get the outcome you desire. Finally it ensures that you have your priorities and goals aligned to your values, and that you are consistently working towards achieving them.

How to improve and who will benefit?

Task Management

The first thing you should do each day is write down the 5-10 tasks you intend to achieve, and keep in mind how they align with your professional and personal goals. You should then rank this list to ensure you're working on the items in order of priority. This sounds obvious, but it’s surprising how easily something so simple can be overlooked.

In parallel you need to make sure that for any of the tasks which are dependent on other people, these people know as soon as possible so that they can provide the required input in a timely manner to help you complete your task and meet your deadlines.

Finally repeat the exercise for the week and the year and never forget to look back and see how far you and the people you work and live with have come. Reflection is very important.

Negative energy is wasted energy

When something goes wrong, it is an opportunity to make something right. Being negative in any situation is not going to help you resolve the issue any quicker, so you need to try, as hard as it might be at times, to find the light at the end of the tunnel as it really is the only way out.

Positive energy

Working with the positive people we have at BSBG is one of our enduring strengths and makes working, in what must be one of the hardest markets in the world with respect to client expectations, a real pleasure.

Honestly, it is awesome to come into the office every day and know there are going to be 115 other people ready for the challenges that present themselves.

Sometimes the only answer is hard work

I once said something like this to my wife, with respect to our relationship, not long after we met. Her initial response was: "No, a relationship should just work, effortlessly."

After being married to me for three years she freely acknowledges that our relationship is very hard work. Living in the 24 hour, 7 day a week trade hub of Dubai has both pros and cons. One of the cons is that this can translate into very demanding deadlines, such as those we have faced as a company on our recent projects.

At times, no amount of planning or resourceful solutions can prevent a period of sacrifice and commitment to achieve a goal. This level of commitment is sincerely appreciated by BSBG and the attainment of the deadlines on projects recently is a testimony to the mental strength and resourcefulness of our staff.

Final thought

Being mentally strong is not about suppressing your emotions, it is about controlling them to ensure you achieve positive outcomes for all those you care about, including yourself.

Sources: http://www.firstsun.com/2015/08/02/leadership-8-things-mentally-strong-people-do-every-single-day-the-choices-you-make-every-day-can-help-you-grow-stronger-become-better/

Andrew Bereza

Senior Partner

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