How one of Australia’s greatest cricketing legends maintains composure, overcomes adversity, and manages pressure.
Any life event that causes us stress can have a significant impact on our ability to thrive and succeed at work and home. Having a strong understanding of resilience and calling upon tried and tested management techniques would undoubtedly help us withstand said challenges.
QuickFee recently had the pleasure of co-sponsoring a virtual event with Australian cricketing legend, co-founder and President of the McGrath Foundation – Glenn McGrath. Glenn’s easy-going nature and naturally positive mindset have helped establish his ability to maintain composure and positivity in times of adversity and endure challenges that may have set the rest of us back.
Glenn’s story started growing up in the small town of Narromine in Country NSW, playing different sports and building the foundations of his cricketing career. Through his sporting highs and lows, the personal tragedy of losing his wife Jane and ultimately founding the McGrath Foundation, Glenn had to learn to overcome adversity and manage pressure.
Four Fundamental Principles of Resilience
Glenn has developed and refined four fundamental principles which he relies upon to get through life’s challenges and build his resilience:
1. Self-belief
“What really matters is how we feel about ourselves and what we allow to affect/impact us. It comes from knowing yourself, having self-belief, plus planning and preparing as well as you can,” said Glenn. Self-belief and the ability to handle pressure comes from within. Putting yourself out there and ‘having a go’ is the best way to build belief in your abilities.
2. Be prepared
Be prepared as much as you can for everything you do, and work hard when you do it. Preparation won’t necessarily prevent things from going wrong, but planning ahead means you will have more capacity to deal with the unexpected when it happens. Accept mistakes and learn from them to build long-term resilience.
3. Never be satisfied
Even when things go right, there is always room to improve. Use the times when things don’t go well as motivation. Analyse why they happened, identify what you can control, and work on improving next time. Focus on the next ball and bowl it as well as you can—you can’t change what has already happened.
4. Have fun
Even when batting (which Glenn admits was not his strongest suit), he always tried to have fun. Live in the moment and look for the best in every scenario. Having a positive mindset and enjoying every minute helps you maintain perspective and build robust reserves of resilience.
“I would tell myself that’s gone, no matter what I do I can’t change it, and tried to focus on the next ball and bowl it as well as I could.”
— Glenn McGrath
Whilst the world continues to throw new and interesting challenges at us—whether it’s a global crisis, a personal loss, or something as common as a cold—if we maintain a strong sense of self-belief, work hard, and remember to have fun, we will continue to build our reserves of resilience.