I am passionate about marketers having successful and fulfilling careers - and a life. That is the philosophy that underpins everything I do at The Whole Marketer. Yet in today’s ever-changing marketing profession, with the world events unfolding around us and everything happening in our lives, the demands on our energy, wellbeing and resilience have never been greater.
In order to thrive in our ever-changing yet rewarding profession, we need to ensure we look after not only our own energy and wellbeing, but that of the marketers in our care.
Why it has never mattered more
The marketing role has shifted - and continues to shift - from a support function to the one leading the long-term commercial agenda, and rightly so. This has brought an increase in the breadth and depth of our roles, greater accountability and responsibility, yet often without an increase in resource or investment to deliver it. So we are doing more with less.
The constant requests for urgent one-pagers, the back-to-back meetings, the relentless socialising of plans to gain buy-in, the pressure to deliver both short and long-term, with the same or fewer resources, with changing approaches of how to deliver and where with tech and channel changes and that is before we consider the world around us - the political uncertainty, the economic volatility, the societal shifts that none of us can ignore and the personal challenges we all carry with us, because we are people as a whole and not just job titles.
So when a setback hits - and it will, they always do - we may already be running dangerously close to empty. The organisation will be looking to us to quickly define ‘what now’. We need to have the strength and clarity to do that. Which is precisely why building our wellbeing and energy levels to build our resilience proactively, not reactively, is key.
It is therefore essential that we prioritise and protect our energy and wellbeing levels to have the resilience to process the constant setbacks and changes happening around us.
But first, what truly is wellbeing and resilience?
So what truly is resilience, a term that is often misconstrued?
"True resilience is your inner strength and ability to bounce back after a setback. It is not endurance, where we simply keep going regardless of how we are feeling."
Abigail Dixon
That distinction - bounce back versus keep going - matters enormously. No one, I repeat no one, needs to keep pushing on through and ignoring the warning signs of overwhelm and exhaustion. Because if we do, we will ultimately burn out. And trust me, that is not something I would wish on anyone — and it will take a huge amount of emotional and physical energy and time to rebuild.
So how do we build our resilience levels?
Our ability to bounce back is personal and will be different for every single one of us and will vary for us at different times, depending on how we perceive the situation, the impact it has on us, our previous lived experience, and our wellbeing and energy at any given moment.
Why energy matters when setbacks hit
When a setback occurs, we need energy to process the feelings and emotions that arise before we can begin to think about what it means, gain perspective, and consider what we might need to do to accept or overcome our new normal. For example, take the all-too-familiar scenario of a budget cut landing after you’ve just briefed an agency. An individual will be far better able to process that and its impact if they have previous lived experience (positive or negative) of navigating this kind of situation, and if they have the mental and physical energy to define a solution - compared to their first time experiencing this, with a strong emotional connection and reduced subjectivity to how many times this may happen to the work, and being sleep-deprived with something difficult happening in their personal life that is already consuming my mental and emotional energy.
Why protecting your wellbeing is non-negotiable
And this is precisely why proactively and consistently building and protecting our wellbeing and energy is so important because it is what enables us to deal with those setbacks when they come. What we each need to build our wellbeing and energy, just like resilience itself, will be different for each of us. Of course, eating well, sleep and exercise are all important and yet, ironically, these are the very first things to fall off our priority list when we have too much on our plate, feel overwhelmed and come under pressure. True wellbeing means having the mental, emotional and physical capacity to process, reflect and regain perspective to have the energy to do all the things we have to and want to do, or to prioritise so that we use the energy we have to do those things well and actually enjoy doing them. It takes a real understanding of what we need across all the pillars of wellbeing to build that.
What do we need to proactively do to thrive?
It means knowing what fills your cup, emotionally and physically, and then proactively, intentionally and fiercely protecting those activities. I call these our non-negotiable and ensure we set firm boundaries around them to protect the time to do them.
Understanding where you get your energy from
Exercise, nutrition and sleep are important but what does this look like for you specifically? What types of exercise work best for your body and mind? How much sleep do you need as a minimum to function at your best?
And what are you doing to fill your cup and nourish your soul? When we do things that align with our values, our passions and our interests, it fills us up. And sometimes it’s not even about doing something, it’s the pausing. Making sure you have time to reflect, to process, to do activities that ground you, whether that’s a walk, meditation or just sitting still. Use this self-knowledge to build your non-negotiables list. Here are some of mine as an example: a minimum of eight hours’ sleep; thirty minutes alone every day; a weekly catch-up with a good friend; walking the dog at least three times a week; my weekly drumming lesson. These are all non-negotiables for me. When they’re not in place, I know I don’t have the physical energy or the emotional headspace to be at my best. What are yours?
Define the activities that play to our values and that fill up our cup and soul
Once you have defined your non-negotiables and set boundaries around them, communicate them clearly to those around you and protect them fiercely. And in doing so, give those around you permission to do the same. Who do you need to share yours with, colleague, at home, accountability buddy to ensure that they happen and you are supported to ensure you do them?
Build perspective
When processing a setback, gaining perspective is a powerful way to help you see the true scale and significance of an issue - regardless of how it initially feels.
You can build perspective through having an anchoring why - goals, a purpose or a north star that you are working towards for your career and life as a whole. Having a clear sense of where you are heading helps you recognise that either this setback isn’t going to impact that destination at all, or that it’s only a small detour on the wider journey to getting there. It’s also important to have a support network around you to help process the situation and offer other perspectives on how to manage it. A board of advisors - a mentor, a coach, a trusted peer, people inside and outside of work - your old work wives and husbands who you can call to vent, gain perspective from, and be genuinely honest with about what is happening and how it is making you feel.
Practise acceptance
The other pillar is acceptance. Accepting that when a setback happens, it’s natural to be flooded with cortisol and adrenaline, and that your automatic response is a rush of emotions. That is your brain doing its job. It’s completely normal and accepting that your brain is doing what it needs to do and your body is reacting as it should, and giving yourself grace in those first moments after a setback hits, is so important and when being asked what now, know its ok to simply state I am still processing I will come back to you.
Develop flexibility of thought
Flexibility of thought is also important when we start thinking about: so, now what? What am I going to do to solve this? Exposing ourselves to different situations and challenges throughout our lives gives us a bank of experience and case studies to draw on when figuring out how to move forward. And crucially, we don’t have to solve it alone. Having diverse perspectives to draw on, whether from someone with lived experience of navigating a similar setback, or fresh ideas from people who think differently to us will all help. You do not need to do this alone, and ideas don’t come to us under pressure so giving your brain some space and different environment will help.
A final word
There were so many things that we can do to help proactively build a well-being. These are just a few but my key wish and want for you all reading this is that we need to be proactive in prioritising what we can realistically achieve with the energy and well-being levels that we have and building our reserves for the setbacks that will inevitably never occur. And when they do occur, give yourself great whilst you process and navigate what’s next.
"We can do anything not everything."
Abigail Dixon
