National Safety Month: Meet Ester Di Giovanni

Ester Di Giovanni
Director, Environmental Health and Safety

“Personal resilience goes hand in hand with personal safety and safety at work. Building resilience and improving your overall balance, well-being and mental health helps you be your best self and foster a welcoming, calm, safe and productive work environment. No matter your role with Liberty, we are all affected with managing stress, coping through challenging times and successfully adapting to difficult or fluctuating circumstances.

It’s important to acknowledge everyone reacts to life’s setbacks in different ways, however we all have the capacity to adapt well in the face of hard times.

Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties – it’s often compared to elasticity or our ability to spring back and emerge even stronger than before. Here are some tips that might be helpful:

• Maintain perspective. Negative emotions can cloud clear thinking. Research suggests that individuals and leaders who experience positive emotions more than negative ones can focus on these positive attributes during times of challenge and adversity and be more resilient. It also helps to keep the big picture in mind. Ask yourself, ‘will this problem be a big issue tomorrow or next week?’
• Set reasonable standards. Set reasonable standards and know both your limitations and those of others. Focus on small steps and realistic goals that can be accomplished regularly. Instead of focusing on tasks that seem unachievable, ask yourself, “what’s one thing I know I can accomplish today that will help me move in the direction I want to go?”
• Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find time to relax and exercise regularly. Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience. These activities not only help you relax after a stressful day, but they also help make you more resistant to stress in the future.”