Developing resilience and how it can help you to focus

In the blog series Brighton Resilience, we are reaching out to alumni who are sharing their experience of building resilience, how this is helping them now and any tips and idea they have for current students and graduates, facing the labourmarket in a time of uncertainty.

Alumnus from Law LLB and Paralegal at Howard Kennedy LLP, Giovanni Parcou, shares his journey from university to professional life and how he has built resilience along the way, giving advice on how to gain confidence and resilience in challenging times.

I graduated from the University of Brighton in 2015 with the view that the legal profession was not for me, having had some bad experiences during work placements, and coupled with a downward spiral in my mental health during my final year at University (great timing!). However, several training contract interviews later, a career as a recruiter, and now paralegal, I arrived at the exciting decision to pursue a career at the Bar!

To arrive at this decision it has taken time and resilience. To remain resilient, I have had to learn from my experiences both good and bad. Having gone through various training contract interviews and assessment centres I came to realise that a career as a solicitor wasn’t for me right now and that recognition initially left me feeling despondent. But to remain resilient I had to learn what it was I wanted from a future career and worry less about what it was other people were doing.

I refocused my sights on what I enjoy most in my life: cooking, ice skating, hiking and re-watching Killing Eve! It’s a revelation by the way, when you take a step back from life’s challenges things slowly become clearer and that uncertainty you had, that lack of confidence, shifts into something positive. Taking time to enjoy myself with pastimes I realised I wanted agency in my career, I wanted to meet a variety of people and I wanted real-life challenges. The certainty and realisation led to a feeling of resilience.

In times of uncertainty where aspects of life may often feel out of your control, take the time to reflect on experiences asking exactly what you want moving forward. Tackle challenges with a ‘can-do’ attitude and try to take away positive criticism of your own successes and failures in order to move forward with a resilient mindset when life’s tasks appear challenging. While it is important to ensure you do everything you can to succeed in life it is important you enjoy it too.

 

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Christina Keiller • 19/05/2020


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