Lesson 4: Three Strategies for Building and Sustaining Resilience

In the previous lessons, we have talked about coherence and resilience and how they relate to intelligent energy management. Now, let’s look at three important strategies to more effectively regulate your energy and increase your resilience. Understanding these three strategies then will help you see when and where you can apply any of the techniques.

1. Prep to set the tone for the day and to be more composed before upcoming stressful events, or even a regular routine such as going to work.

2. Shift and Reset as soon as possible after a stress reaction or challenging situation by shifting into a more coherent state to minimize energy drains. Shift and Reset again before resting or going to bed to get the maximum benefits from rest or sleep.

3. Sustain your resilience throughout the day by establishing regular practices to refresh your composure between activities. Choose the appropriate technique, in the moment, whenever challenging events occur. Use a technique even when you feel you don’t need one. It all adds up!

1. Prep

The value of prepping cannot be overemphasized

The purpose of prepping is to ensure that before entering a challenging situation, you are in a more resilient and composed state so you are able to meet the challenge and respond optimally. This is not merely thinking about feeling more calm and composed, but rather creating the actual feeling of ease, calm or confidence, which creates coherence. You also can prep by activating a feeling of confidence, clarity or poise or whatever you feel would be appropriate to help you meet a situation with greater internal balance. It takes only a couple of minutes to prep. The benefits are well worth the time.
Practice prepping using one of the techniques you have learned to shift to a coherent state before:

• Potentially stressful situations
• Talks or speeches
• Appointments
• Making important decisions
• Sensitive communications
• Starting your day
• Meetings
• Sleep

• Sensitive communications
• Starting your day
• Meetings
• Sleep

2. Shift and Reset

Shift and Reset to re-stabilize your energy system

When we have stress reactions and are wasting our energy, it benefits us greatly to shift and reset as quickly as possible. This saves a lot of energy and, in many situations, avoids additional stress and time loss. Do not underestimate how much of your resilience is affected by regularly occurring stress reactions and the accompanying energy drain.

3. Sustain

Sustaining coherence helps maintain your resilience throughout the day

Without a conscious effort to sustain more coherence and reduce energy-draining emotions, we can automatically fall prey to feelings of irritation, anxiety, worry, frustration, being judgmental and self-doubt. We tend to replay these same depleting feelings over and over, reinforcing the pattern in our brain circuits. Our responses then become automatic and mechanical and we act before considering our response. We often become our own worst enemy and a victim by reacting in predictable ways to the common stressors and triggers that drain our energy and rob us of vitality.

The key to sustaining resilience is the regular practice throughout the day of a coherence-building tool such as Inner-Ease or Quick Coherence techniques. Prepping also plays a role in sustaining resilience because it helps create a new habit and more stability in your system so you can more easily maintain your composure on the go. The Heart Lock-In Technique is a powerful tool to use to help shift your baseline. Practicing the Heart Lock-In Technique three or four times a week for five to fifteen minutes each time is a very effective way to prep and build your resilience.