Build Your Resilience with Dr. Maureen Orey

StayAfloat!

Learning resilience from nature.

Even a duck can drown, but it learns to stay afloat.

And so can YOU!

If you are stuck in a grind, struggling for consistency and a lack of clarity about the future or you want to develop so you are prepared for tough times, Stay Afloat is the perfect opportunity!

Ducks aren’t hatched waterproof.

They develop the waterproofing as they grow, so they can stay afloat.

Why ducks?

Why not puppies?

I’ve always loved animals.

So, my pets ranged from cats and dogs, to chickens, hamsters and guinea pigs. Taking care of ducks only started when my neighbour’s children asked me to babysit their 2 newly-bought ducklings, so their dogs wouldn’t eat them.

As you can imagine, babysitting turned into a permanent job.

That is when I found out that ducks can’t swim until they grow up and develop the Preening Gland, which is a little sack of oil that helps them in staying afloat.

What can we learn from nature?

Based on this little story, and the astounding lesson that we learn from ducks, you will find a lot of connections with this one essential skill:

Resilience!

✔ The ability to bounce back

✔ Not letting challenging times bring you down

✔ Not letting the problems in life define who you are

We all have only 2 options in life: we either sink, or we swim.

You can paddle all you want, but at some point, you’ll either sink or you learn how to swim.

In order to be resilient, you need to have grit, tenacity, perseverance.

How does the StayAfloat! program help you develop your resilience?

StayAfloat! is based on research about nature and psychological studies on resilience.

We use 6 main concepts that, when put together, equip you with a model that you can use to swim through all tough times - whether at work or at home, in business or with family.

#1 Connect

If they can’t swim, how come we see so many videos online with cute baby ducks paddling away after their mother?

The mother duck takes care of its ducklings' lifeline! It preens them with oil and monitors their exposure to water.

You and I also need this type of connection - from a helping hand once in a while, to being there for others.

The first module in our program will focus precisely on that:

How do you leverage your social capital, your network?
What does it mean to have a true connection with the people around you - the difference between building a relationship versus having a ton of business cards in your pocket?
Why and how should you reach out for support and to support others?

#2 Adapt

Remember what we talked about the ducks’ Preening Gland?

Well, once they have this little sack of oil, they start developing it.

Just like them, you also need to adapt to whatever the new situation you’re in brings.

In the second module of the program, you learn key concepts and tools to start developing new skills, a new mindset, new tools.

How do you invest in yourself?
What are the tools that are available and which ones suit you best?
Why and how to develop both professionally and personally?
What is a positive mindset and why do you need it?
How do you build your mental toughness?

#3 Apply

Learning is an integral part of life - you do it both consciously and unconsciously, due to your instinctual need to survive, therefore adapt. But developing your capacity or new skills is not enough.

Just like the duck - which even though has the gland developed, it will sink if it does not apply the oil on its feathers every single day, you also need to get up and do the work - put what you learn into practice.

Even at this stage, there are tips, tricks and techniques that you will learn in the program:

How do you consistently develop new habits that will help you be more resilient?
Learn about consistency, knowing your strengths and how to take purposeful action - again and again!

#4 Persevere

Have you ever watched a duck in a pond?

They seem so cool, calm and collected above water, but underneath, it’s paddling its little feet off!

It takes more than grit to stay afloat - it involves tenacity and hard work!

So, in this module you learn:

How to set goals and create a plan - let’s talk about priorities, milestones and strategic thinking
How do you maintain your focus on what’s important?

#5 Balance

Here’s a sad fact - not only baby ducks can drown, but adult ones too if they don’t have access to a healthy, clean environment.

We are not so different from them - if we don’t take care of ourselves and don’t have some balance, we can lose our capacity to stay afloat as well.

Research shows that 5-10% of adults exposed to traumatic events develop PTSD and related clinical problems, and it dissipates as time passes.

What about the events that affected us in the past few years - COVID-19, the civil unrest, elections to name a few - how do you swim through all of these?
Are you stuck or do you thrive through the choices you make?
What do you want this period of your life to be?

These and many more topics are explored in this module of the program.

#6 Instinct

We all know that when the weather gets cold up north, ducks have the instinct to fly south, where it’s warmer. They pay attention to surrounding indicators and take action based on that.

In the last module of our program, you will learn:

What is instinct and how should you follow yours?
Learn when it’s time to “Fly South” - what happens when you ignore your gut feeling?
Receive tools to assess your situation and discover (or rediscover) your purpose
Identify key indicators for change - how do you know you’re in a toxic environment at work or at home?
How do you prepare yourself for change?