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Adversity doesn't always announce its arrival with a drum roll; it often sneaks up on us insidiously and, without any warning, we are thrust into damage control mode.

In this month's articles by Alex, Michael and Corné, we explore various strategies for building personal and business resilience.

If your approach is to set positive goals for what you want - rather than what you want to avoid - then you can build intrinsic resilience that pre-emptively deters and deflects misfortune. Like sound risk management, you angle the fan away from you so the brown stuff doesn't come your way.

But we can't anticipate everything and it's the unexpected unexpecteds that snatch the wind from our sails. This is when you want to give the trouble-monster the boot by defiantly recovering from breakdown with grace and ease. Check out our how-to articles to find out how to do this.

Don't forget our quick poll, which puts Reader's Digest's condensed novels to shame in our summary of Al Siebert's book The Resiliency Advantage, with the sub-title Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure, and Bounce Back from Setbacks. Take the self-assessment in the quick poll and let us know where you rate your levels of resilience.

Until next month, all the best

Quick Poll

How to build Resilience into your Business DNA

By Alex Noel

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that there are many occasions where organizations face adverse conditions, whether from internal or external causes, or tangible or intangible in nature. In the context of modern business, adversity is also thrust upon us from the dynamic nature of constant change that we must absorb and adapt to. To cope with change and adversity, we need to build resilience into our organizational DNA. Here's how:

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Launch your practice!

- How to succesfully get your practice - new or old - on the map, running smoothly and growing steadily

You're qualified, you're professional and you're passionate about your contribution to the world. Even so, we all face generic and industry-specific challenges: how to find appropriate clients, how to establish a market presence? And even more, how to work efficiently, earn a satisfactory income and define and succeed in long-term objectives?

To help you succeed in your practice, join Brent Combrink and Michelle Clarke in Johannesburg (April 16-18) or in Cape Town (May 28-30) when they bring to you the tried and tested (and fully endorsed by COMENSA) Launch Your Practice!

"In addition to stirring my creative energies, it was exciting to explore and hone into areas where I could channel my business. This workshop provided me with a sound background in what running and expanding a successful practice entails."

- Guiomar Holme, Johannesburg

Launch Your Practice! is a comprehensive 3-day workshop that peels away the mystery of how to kick-start, run and grow a professional practice. It delivers a wealth of proven ideas, strategies and techniques drawn from Brent and Michelle's personal and professional experience in supporting hundreds of clients achieve their own success in business.

Clarity, clarity, clarity

By Michael Heuermann

If the theme for this month's news letter is resilience, then why am I writing to you about clarity?

Well, anything that helps a business cope healthily with difficulties like competition, change or a general economic downturn is helpful. Clarity in your company can help you "tough it out" and make for a happier place to work on top of merely surviving the challenge and keeping the shop doors open for business.

Better or Bitter?

by Corné MacKenzie

Our turbulent world demands adaptation to change as an intrinsic skill. Crime, Eskom and the economic future of our country all beg of us to bounce back from events that could break us. How do we cope? How can resilience be our bridge to being better, not bitter?