By Maria Paula Benavides Garita - Student of Business Administration

Nowadays, most of us want to become a better version of ourselves. The pandemic has made us learned that we need to always be wanting to be better persons, better friends and better coworkers or bosses. In our workplace is very important to have a proper mindset and I believe that by using various soft skills we can change our mentality in all the possible aspects of our life. It is very common to see people that do not have in their day to day different soft skills in their work place, they struggle a lot, and they do not have a mindset as they should, so is it your case that you have wanted to change your mindset but you can’t? Sometimes it is difficult and because of some situations that can occur can make us not be as successful as we want. Regarding soft skills, they include personal attributes, personality traits and communication abilities needed for success on the job. Soft skills characterize how a person interacts in his or her relationship with others (Doyle, 2020). And, in this case, soft skills can be a key to change our mindset and be more resilient and reconstruct ourselves.

First of all, in our workplace we need to work in developing soft skills if we want to be more successful and show the different skills that we have. In this case, soft skills are the ones which will be vey helpful. In fact, having them will make you, as an employee, be more productive. For example, if you are trying to change the aspect of your resilience, it is important to have emotional intelligence, because if in your job there is any kind of problem, you always need to be respectful, provide criticism in private, avoid embarrassing other colleague and try to face problems in the best way possible for the benefit of the company (Apostolooulos, 2020). Secondly, regarding resilience, having an effective communication and social support plays an important role in workplace. It is beneficial to develop personal as well as professional networks, which can be a source of guidance and support during times of stress (Craig, 2021).

Moreover, in the journey of achieving your goal mindset, regarding the reconstruction part, you know it won’t be easy and you need to be determine. Motivation has also a big importance, you need to have by your side people that push you to get positive results and never give up. Then, it is fundamental to create a vision, it is a must to ask yourself what do you want to create in life. Once you have identified it, envision it. Visualize it. See in your mind’s eye the life you want to experience, how you want to grow and live the life that you are proud of. Feel what it would feel like as if you have accomplished and have lived a fulfilling and satisfying life. (TheresaHo, n.d). It would probably be a large and difficult process, since achieving that goal mindset you want to have won’t be easy, but reconstructing yourself in all the possible aspects would bring you many benefits.

Besides these ways of achieving a mindset of resilience and reconstruction, another soft skill very important is teamwork, this one comes with having an effective communication and emotional intelligence. But, there are more reasons why teamwork is crucial and beneficial for that mindset we want. First, it brings new ideas that can make us more successful, also collaboration within a group can help solve difficult problems. By working together, teams can find solutions that work best (YTI, 2015). Furthermore, in every team respectfulness should be present, because in the process of problem solving is fundamental to have that resilience in order to solve difficulties in the best way and respectfully. And, of course, teamwork can be very helpful if you are in the process of reconstructing yourself.

To conclude, achieving an ideal mindset won’t be easy, it requires to be persistent, determine and work hard. It would be a long journey, but every challenge is exciting, and remaining dedicated to your job means pushing through even when things get hard (Doyle, 2019). Having emotional intelligence, effective communication, be empathic, have a vision, set up goals and rewarding yourself for doing a good job are just few example of how can soft skills strengthen a mindset of resilience and reconstruction. It’s easy to have a positive attitude when everything’s going your way. But when you are faced with difficult or challenging situations or when things don’t go your way, keeping a positive attitude isn’t easy. It is easy to complain as a way of dealing with difficult situations, but what good will that do? Instead, take each situation as it comes to you and make the decision to keep a positive attitude (Schmitz, 2016). Finally, let´s take these difficult times such as the pandemic to create a better version of ourselves with our family, friends, in our job or in the streets. Being persistent and never giving up will make us better humans and successfully get that desire mindset of resilience and reconstruction using all the helpful soft skills.

 

MOXIE es el Canal de ULACIT (www.ulacit.ac.cr), producido por y para los estudiantes universitarios, en alianza con el medio periodístico independiente Delfino.cr, con el propósito de brindarles un espacio para generar y difundir sus ideas.  Se llama Moxie - que en inglés urbano significa tener la capacidad de enfrentar las dificultades con inteligencia, audacia y valentía - en honor a nuestros alumnos, cuyo “moxie” los caracteriza.

References:
  • Apostolooulos, A. (2020, October 14). Developing soft skills in the workplace: The whys and the hows. TalentLMS. https://www.talentlms.com/blog/developing-soft-skills-workplace-why-how/
  • Craig, H. (2021, February 2). Resilience in the Workplace: How to Be More Resilient at Work. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-in-the-workplace/
  • Doyle, A. (2019, September 4). Important Adaptability Skills for Workplace Success. The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/important-adaptability-skills-4768260
  • Doyle, A. (2020, September 26). What Are Soft Skills? The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-are-soft-skills-2060852
  • Schmitz, T. (2016, March 11th). Soft Skills are Awsome: 5 Tips for Having a Positive Attitude at Work. Conover. https://www.conovercompany.com/soft-skills-are-awesome-5-tips-for-having-a-positive-attitude-at-work/
  • TheresaHo. (´n.d´). How to Rebuild your Life from within. Happy Free Lifestyle. https://happyfreelifestyle.com/live-well/how-to-rebuild-your-life-from-within/
  • YTI. (2015, March 26th). Reasons Teamwork is Important in the Workplace. YTI Career Institute. https://yti.edu/blog/reasons-teamwork-is-important-in-the-workplace#:~:text=Teamwork%20is%20important%20for%20the,It%20brings%20new%20ideas.&text=Businesses%20thrive%20when%20they%20have,who%20can%20contribute%20individual%20ideas.