7 Ways to Increase Your Resourcefulness
Practical ways to become someone who can figure anything out.
Resourcefulness underlies resilience. The more ways you know how to get things done, the more options you have when your usual approach hits a wall. The more ways you've solved problems before, the less daunting new problems feel. Yet many people never target resourcefulness as a skill they can build. They stick to a narrow playbook of how they get things done, and don't consider venturing beyond that.
Resourcefulness can give you a greater sense of security in your life and more trust in yourself. Here are seven ways to build yours.
1. Vary the Way You Do Things
Many of us have strong defaults, e.g., you buy everything on Amazon. Try venturing outside those defaults. It could be as simple as buying something from eBay, a thrift store, or Facebook Marketplace.
The more different options feel within your wheelhouse, the more resourceful you become. Plus, you never know when you'll discover something unexpected by going outside your usual routine. For example, you discover a new favorite lunch spot next to the thrift store.
2. Aim to Learn From People You Don't Like
Expand your social resources. When you've got a question at work, don't just stick to asking your friends. If you only turn to people you like, you cut yourself off from many potential resources.
3. Learn the Thing Everyone You Meet Has to Teach You
Lots of people have hidden pockets of knowledge: the things they know how to do that are unusual.
- Your friend's husband is an expert at buying used cars.
- Your cousin who goes on exotic vacations knows how to use airline miles for business-class flights.
- The receptionist at your gym knows how to get a stain out of anything.
Without being a burden, aim to tap into the micro skills the people around you are happy to share and show off.
When I said "everyone," I don't mean this literally, since that would be excessive, but you get the idea.
4. Observe Ways Others Are Resourceful
Resourcefulness takes many forms:
- Some people can MacGyver anything from what they have on hand.
- Others walk into a hardware store and find the item that solves their problem, even when that's not its specified use.
- Socially resourceful people know how to find who can solve their problems.
- The technologically resourceful find tools that accomplish their goals.
- The information resourceful can find the nugget of instruction they need, even when it's a needle in a haystack.
- There are persistent people who excel at finding the angle that can turn an initial No into a Yes.
- Experimenters poke and probe to find opportunities for themselves without needing proof that it's worked for someone else first.
- Some folks excel at looking for opportunities where most others aren't. They're zigging while others zag.
Notice how others are resourceful and build those skills.
5. Transact
Transactions are one way we build relationships. When we've transacted with someone, they're more likely to become a future resource. Hire the teenager who lives next door when you need a second pair of hands in the yard. Sell the tickets for the concert you can't attend to the guy who works on the floor below you. Buy the extra zucchini your piano teacher has when everything in their garden ripens all at once. Commission the friend of a friend to create a piece of art for your new office space.
6. Ask Questions
Like transactions, questions are a way to open doors and build relationships, and you never know what you're going to find out. When you ask a question that's not usually asked, often the "gold" isn't the main response, but an offhand comment or tidbit that comes along with it and gets you thinking.
Look for opportunities to ask polite, not overly intrusive, questions when you're curious about anything.
7. Put Yourself in a Position of Stumbling Upon Interesting Things
Interesting discoveries happen when you vary where you go, who you talk to, and what you talk about. Walk, bike, or drive the side streets, since you're not likely to see anything interesting on the side of the highway. Keep enough room in your life that you're able to chat with people you encounter. Enter different spaces, whether locally or online. Consider participating in Slack workspaces, Facebook groups, or Reddit communities for any hobbies you enjoy.
More Skills, More Security
Resourcefulness can provide you with a psychological sense of peace and security, helping you know that you'll figure out whatever you need to. You earn self-trust when you've figured things out in many different ways, drawing on diverse resources. The seven strategies offered here give you options to build your resourcefulness in whatever way appeals to you.
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