6 Steps To Creating Resilient Systems
Crisis reveals where you are at in life. If you have unhealed areas in your heart crisis is sure to highlight those areas. If you have struggles in a relationship crisis will either take you into a deeper bond or it will divide you farther apart. Often times in sickness our bodies crave things that were a comfort to us when we were children. Stomach flu…. saltine crackers and 7up anyone? Cold… how about some Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup? If you have an eating problem, an addiction or an unhealthy way of dealing with issues these things will manifest themselves in a deeper way. So what can we do to change this into a positive? We can build resilient systems - what do I mean by that?
Building resilient systems means creating rhythms and routines that are healthy during times of relative peace. What happens if you do this for yourself is that when a crisis comes you fall back on these healthy systems rather than “old bad habits”. What do these systems look like and how can you build your own?
Allowing myself to feel emotions and heal in the moment. Creating a healthy emotional process.
For the sake of finding something that we can all relate to let’s talk about the most recent crisis that affected every one of us. The pandemic. - Stay with me here.
Chances are pretty high that if you are reading this blog you were already aware of the need to build resilient systems in the form of homesteading, farming or prepping well before the pandemic started. If you weren’t aware beforehand chances are really high that you know now… and are actively working on these goals. Even if it’s a few pots of vegetables growing on your balcony, baking bread in an apartment kitchen or reading homesteading magazines. (It totally counts). I am quite sure within the first week of shutdowns you became acutely aware of things you needed but could not get. eh hem… should I even mention Toilet paper?… I digress… For the sake of this post let's call these realized needs gaps or holes in your system. And let’s define systems as routines or provisions that you have to rely on in a daily capacity. So things like financial freedom, what you eat, medical needs, housing and things of that nature and schooling needs if you have children still at home and how you deal with trauma all of these would be considered systems.
So when the shut downs happened did you find yourself needing that toilet paper? Food? Schooling? OR were you all set? Think back and feel those pains again. Think about those personal gaps.
Do you have them in your mind? Okay now, let’s take those things and build on them.
Let’s create resiliency in your systems.
Food. Perhaps you don’t cook from home. Could you make say one or two meals at home per week? It will save you money AND be healthier for you. Let’s say you are starting out with a need to visit the grocery store more than once a week. How can you make this a more resilient system for yourself? Could you write a menu for the entire week and go to the grocery store only one time per week? Perhaps you are already doing that. What happens if you - the acting adult in the house gets sick? (why yes, we just went through this in our own home) Do you have meals in the freezer that you can pull out in a pinch? What about extra food supplies in the cupboard. Could you buy two next time you go to the store? Could you double a recipe and freeze half?
Canning corn for winter eating. Creating a resilient Food system.
What if you are ready to take this to the next level… you already cook from scratch and often double recipes for the freezer. What if you challenged yourself to grow more of your own food this year? Maybe make 1 meal per month OR even better per week that was from your own land. One small step at a time and soon you will have build a resilient food system for you to fall back on in times of crisis. We don’t even have to talk about big things like shut downs and pandemics… we can just talk about simple things like the common cold or a gap in income.
Every single one of us can benefit from being a little more prepared in life and creating resilient systems for ourselves.
How about a resilient financial system? Are you currently scraping by each month or do you have plenty? In either case there is room for growth. Most of us have heard of Dave Ramsey, the infamous finical guru. He lines out baby steps to financial freedom that thousands of people have used to get out of debt and live a less stressful life. This is where I started my own journey to financial peace as he calls it. Using his baby steps I am still debt free! Even though my little family is currently in a time of less, I am still actively following these principles as well as others which are guiding me through until relief comes. How can you get this?
Start by creating a budget. Track your money! Where is it going? Every penny counts is a true statement. Are there any areas of unnecessary spending? Can you eliminate subscriptions you’re not using? Can you take this extra money and start paying down some of your debts? This is how it begins. Before you know it you will be well on your way to creating another resilient system for yourself.
Steps to creating a resilient system:
Analyze the area that needs changing: such as food, finances, or how you deal with trauma.
Ask yourself am I doing things in the most effective and efficient manner? Are there any gaps in this system? Think through potential crisis’ and what solutions you could implement.
Write down the end goal for the area you are improving.
Write the baby steps you can take to get to the end goal.
Stick to the changes!! Do not give up. Keep going until you see the desired changes.
Visualize and speak out loud the end goal.
You can use these steps I’ve laid out to create a resilient system in just about any area of your life. I am currently using this exact method to create resilient systems in my business. When you have a system in place it allows you to access peace more easily, enjoy the good times and worry less about future crisis. It’s ok if you fall back into old habits!! It’s okay to fail!! Just get back up as soon as possible… eh hem that means today. NOT tomorrow. Soon you will find that when you fall you won’t fall quite as hard. When you fail you will get back up and recover quicker than you did last time. Click here to see how creating resilient systems helped me recently.
Do you have resilient systems you use? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
Learn & Grow
Esther
Putting away firewood for winter. Creating a resilient heating system.
