Special Edition on Resilience with Stephen Robinson

Stephen Robinson, an internationally known expert in resilience focuses on stress-mitigation and self-regulation for the optimal performance of athletes, executives, military personnel, law enforcement, first-responders, health care professionals, and individual human beings seeking to improve their quality-of-life.

Stephen has taught for over 25 years as a corporate trainer, peak performance coach, fitness trainer, and consultant to a diverse range of clients on overcoming self-limiting behaviors to maximize potential. He has played and coached professional tennis at the tour level, coached two nationally-ranked college tennis teams and several professional players, and is a 30-year member and Elite Professional in the United States Professional Tennis Association. He has over twenty years of experience in the martial arts and sees them as portals to the wisdom within warriorship and leadership combined.

Stephen is the founder of EvenPulse: The Science of Human Resilience. Stephen and his interdisciplinary team have trained over 20,000 people in high-stress, high-performance jobs including two Army Brigade Combat Teams, FEMA, and 3 of the 4 USSOCOM component commands, including the Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs.

In our conversation about how to stay resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen discusses some of the fundamental practices that each of us can perform today that will have tangible results in increasing our resilience and decreasing stress and anxiety.

Key Leadership Takeaways:

  • During times of high stress, focus on your locus of control
  • Your mind can be your worse enemy or your best friend.
  • YOU are adaptable and flexible even in light of the worst scenarios.
  • Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is key to balancing the stress response.

Leader Action Plan:

  • Are you willing to commit to deliberate, focused attention on your breath throughout the day or at a certain time?
  • Practice developing your internal sense of awareness and keep at least 20% or more of your attention inward at all times (directing thoughts, breathing, feeling for muscle tension, etc.)
  • Remember, you are always simulating (imagining, visualizing, thinking about). Use it to your advantage.
  • Learning to direct emotions and energy in the body is vital to building resilience and reducing stress.

Resources Mentioned:

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Until next time…remember that Iron Sharpens Iron, make yourself and others around you better every day!