Hello, my name is Fatmanur Erdogan. Currently I am the managing partner for a strategic communications firm called IPPA communications. We develop strategies to change corporate cultures, raise reputation scores, prepare organizations for the digital world and design communications programs that align with the corporate goals.

I am and always have been an entrepreneurial executive. It means that routine is not my forte. I am originally from Istanbul but lived most of my adult life abroad working in countries such as Norway, Singapore and California. In my work, I held jobs where I would manage international markets, which meant that I would always be on the go. This kind of life is truly wonderful for me because I feel happiest when I’m on my way to the airport to explore new cultures, new landscapes, new people, and new knowledge. The discovery process is and has always been fascinating for me. So when you have a creative and curious personality like mine, you tend to be resourceful. At least when you run out of resources, one way or another, you figure out a way to get new ones. So at times of difficulty, it is somewhat in your nature to tap into one of these resources and find a way out of your current situation. Yet, just like every other human being, going through these tough times is excruciating. But over time, you learn that the ability to push through pain points in life, whether it’s personal, social, or professional, is key to a resilient life.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that a resilient life is a rich life in which you have good relationships with your friends and family, and enticing intellectual life and hobbies that are dear to you. If your focus in life is only on one of these dimensions, it becomes somewhat harder for you to bounce back when you fall and easier to go into depressive states. The ability to push through pain points in life means you need to grant permission to yourself. Life is about ups and downs for pretty much all of us. Just like you grant permission to yourself to be happy and joyful, you need to grant permission to be stressed, miserable, agitated or sad. What makes us least resilient in life is when we start to think a certain way and are unable to entertain other perspectives. But thoughts happen spontaneously, right? You can’t really control your thoughts all the time. That’s a fact. But thoughts can be deliberate too. For your thoughts to change, you need to first change your behavior. That means whatever it is that you need to get done, you need to have a particular end goal in mind. And that end goal will give you a sense of urgency and energy, which will help you move forward and overcome your inertia. Because when you get too stressed, you may feel numb, can’t move or think clearly. If you ever get in such a state, there are some new neuroscientific research on breathing techniques such as breathing in twice from your nose and breathing out from your mouth. Do that for about 10 or 15 times. This will help you get your energy and focus back. Now that you have set a new goal to overcome your situation, you must now install self-rewards. The more often that you can self-reward some aspect of the process, the more energy and focus you will have. So in a nutshell, action, not inaction, is the best solution to a resilient life.

Thank you, Miss Erdogan, for such thoughtful reflections on your career and personal life. When I first heard this interview, what stood out to me was the importance of deliberateness. From the thoughts we think, to purposefully selecting a fulfilling career path, choosing the life you want to live and the mindset you want to have is an important value impressed on me from this interview.

As a college student, I think it is far too easy to just live day-to-day, not planning ahead, and not being deliberate in our involvements and connections. It’s particularly hard to do this, when it’s almost impossible to know the difference between finding a job and selecting a career. What I took away from this reflection is that resilience starts from the small moments, the way we think, the way we breathe. It’s also about designing a life based around encouragement, like the self-rewards that incentivize action. As college students, I think that can be as simple as study breaks or a night out, but to those of us just learning the importance of resilience and deliberateness that can truly make all the difference.