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ATTITUDES FOR A RESILIENT

CAREER

While your actions will set the stage for a resilient career, your attitudes will
be what create the agile, opportunistic mindset.

Your attitudes determine how you view the events and experiences of your
life. Negative attitudes will keep you “stuck” in situations that drain you of
energy and joy, whereas positive attitudes can help move you forward out
of a bad situation and into the terrific nursing career you envision. This isn’t
about what the psychology experts call “delusional optimism,” but rather the
reality-based attitudes that let you control what you can control and let go of
what you can’t.
Some of the attitudes that will help you build your resilient career:

Acceptance of change. Accepting and expecting change as an ongoing
part of your nursing career lets you refuse to waste time, energy, or
attention trying to resist it. Part of being able to move forward to meet
opportunity is a willingness to bring positive energy to the game.
Acceptance of risk. It’s okay to be a bit risk-averse, to avoid taking
unnecessary or uninformed risks. But avoiding all risk keeps you from
growing and moving forward.
Acceptance of failure. Richard Branson, entrepreneur and legendary risk-
taker says “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and
try again.” If you recognize that failure can indicate something good, that is,
stretching beyond your existing comfort zone and trying new things, then
all you need to do is learn from your failures and keep moving forward. The
reality is that someone who never fails is someone who never grows – and
resiliency is based on growth.

Acceptance of reality. It’s just human nature to think about the way things
should be, or how you wish they were. But only by letting go of those
thoughts and instead focusing on the reality of your current circumstances
will you be able to achieve your career goals. Seeing and accepting reality
gives you the information you need to identify a challenge and decide how
you’ll resolve it.

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