The 6-Step Framework for Sustainable Persistence: How to Manage Motivation and Energy Throughout Your Career

Behind every badge, there's a story.

A story of courage, sacrifice and relentless pursuit of justice.

But there's also a story that often goes untold.

A story of the mental and emotional toll that policing takes on those who answer the call.

Welcome to Police Speak, the podcast that delves into the raw realities of police work and explores the path to resilience.

Each week, we'll unpack harrowing police encounters, dissect their psychological impact, and equip you with the tools to safeguard your mental well being.

So turn up the volume and prepare for our next journey.

Welcome back to Please Speak.

This is episode five in our series on the Predictive six factor resilience model.

We've covered vision, composure, and reasoning.

Today we're going to explore the fourth domain, tenacity.

Tenacity is about persistence.

It's about your ability to keep moving forward even when things are difficult.

It's about maintaining motivation, learning from setbacks, and developing what we call realistic optimism.

And here's why this matters for law enforcement.

This job is going to knock you down.

You're going to face setbacks, failures, and moments when you question whether you can keep doing this work.

Tenacity is what gets you back up.

It's what keeps you in the fight.

So today we're going to explore what makes some people more tenacious than others, and more importantly, how you can develop tenacity that will carry you through the toughest moments of your career.

Start by clarifying what we mean by tenacity, because it's often misunderstood.

Tenacity isn't about being hard or tough in the way that law enforcement culture often talks about toughness.

It's not about never showing weakness or never asking for help.

It's not about just pushing through everything with your jaw clenched.

In the PR6 model, tenacity is defined as the ability to persist, maintain realistic optimism, and recover from setbacks.

It's about having the mental resources to keep going even when things are hard, while also being smart about how you persevere.

Research shows that people with high tenacity share some common characteristics.

They see setbacks as temporary rather than permanent.

When something goes wrong, they don't assume it will always be that way.

They think this is a difficult moment rather than everything is always difficult.

They see setbacks as specific rather than pervasive.

When they fail at something, they don't assume they're failures.

In general, they think I struggled with this particular situation rather than I'm bad at everything.

They view challenges as within their control, even when facing difficult circumstances they focus on what they can influence rather than feeling completely helpless.

These patterns of thinking are at the heart of what researchers call realistic optimism, and it's one of the most powerful predictors factors of resilience.

Let me make an important distinction here, because there's a lot of confusion about optimism in high stress professions.

Realistic optimism is not the same as toxic positivity.

Let me explain the difference.

Toxic positivity is the pressure to always be positive, to always look on the bright side, to deny or suppress negative emotions.

It's the just think positive advice that makes people feel worse when they're struggling.

It's the idea that if you're not happy, it's because you're not trying hard enough to be positive.

Toxic positivity is harmful.

It invalidates people's real struggles.

It makes people feel guilty for having normal emotional responses to difficult situations.

It prevents people from processing trauma and reaching out for help.

Realistic optimism, on the other hand, is very different.

Realistic optimism acknowledges reality, including the difficult parts, while maintaining hope about the future.

It's the ability to think.

This situation is really hard right now and I have the skills and support to work through it.

I made a mistake that I feel terrible about and I can learn from this and do better next time.

I'm struggling with symptoms of trauma and there are effective treatments available that can help me see the difference.

Realistic optimism holds both truths at the same time.

It doesn't deny the difficulty, but it also doesn't get stuck in hopelessness.

Research on army soldiers found that those with realistic optimism, the ability to see both challenges and possibilities, had better mental health outcomes after deployment.

They were more likely to seek help when needed, more likely to use effective coping strategies, and less likely to develop PTSD or depression.

One of the key components of tenacity is the ability to learn from setbacks rather than being destroyed by them.

Every officer experiences failure at some point.

You make mistakes, you have bad calls, you don't get the promotion you wanted.

You handle a situation poorly, you say the wrong thing, you miss something important.

The question isn't whether you'll experience setbacks.

The question is, what do you do when they happen?

Officers with low tenacity tend to respond to setbacks in one of two ways.

They catastrophize.

This is terrible.

My career is over.

I'm a failure.

I'll never recover from this.

Or they avoid.

They try not to think about it.

They don't examine what went wrong.

They just hope it goes away and try to move on without processing it.

Neither of these Responses builds resilience.

Catastrophizing keeps you stuck in negative emotions.

Avoidance prevents you from learning and growing.

Officers with high tenacity respond to setbacks differently.

They acknowledge the difficulty.

Yes, this was hard.

Yes, I made a mistake.

Yes, I feel bad about it.

They analyze what happened, what exactly went wrong, what factors contributed, what was within my control and what wasn't.

They extract lessons.

What can I learn from this?

What would I do differently next time?

How can I use this experience to become better?

They take action.

What concrete steps can I take to address this?

How can I make amends if I hurt someone?

What skills do I need to develop?

They move forward.

This setback doesn't define me.

It's one experience among many.

I can learn from it and keep going.

This is what we call a growth mindset, the belief that abilities and skills can be developed through effort and learning rather than being fixed.

Traits you either have or don't have.

Let me give you an example.

There was an officer, we'll call him Alex, who was working patrol when he responded to a call for service.

When Alex arrived, the situation appeared to be resolved.

All parties were cooperative and based on the information available and his assessment of the circumstances, Alex determined that the immediate safety concerns had been addressed.

Alex made a judgment call based on his training and experience.

He provided appropriate resources, documented everything thoroughly according to protocol, and cleared the call.

Several days later, Alex learned that the situation had escalated and one of the individuals involved required medical attention.

Alex was deeply affected by this outcome.

He kept thinking, I should have done more.

I should have seen something I missed.

Because of the decisions I made, someone got hurt.

Alex's supervisor and peer support team worked with him on this.

They helped him see that his response, while not perfect, was reasonable, given the information he had at the time and the constraints of the law and departmental policy.

More importantly, they helped Alex focus on learning rather than self blame.

They asked him what additional information would have changed your decision?

What indicators could you look for in the future?

How can you use this experience to make better decisions going forward?

Alex identified several things.

He could ask more specific questions about the history of violence in the relationship.

He could spend more time speaking with the victim separately from the suspect.

He could better communicate the resources available and follow up more persistently.

He could consult with a more experienced officer when he's uncertain.

But here's what's important.

Alex also recognized that domestic violence dynamics are complex.

Victims often minimize the violence due to fear, manipulation, financial dependence, or hope that the abuser will change.

Alex couldn't force the victim to cooperate or accept help.

He couldn't arrest someone without meeting the legal requirements.

So Alex held both truths.

I could have handled some things better, and I'm not solely responsible for what that suspect chose to do.

Alex used this experience to become a better officer.

He started learning more about domestic violence dynamics.

He connected with victim advocates to better understand how to support victims.

He became someone other officers consulted when they were uncertain about DV calls.

Did Alex still feel bad about that call?

Yes.

Did it haunt him?

Yes.

But it didn't destroy him, and it didn't make him give up.

He used it to grow.

That's tenacity Another key aspect of tenacity is managing your motivation and energy over time.

Motivation isn't a constant.

It fluctuates.

There will be days when you feel energized and committed to the work.

And there will be days when you drag yourself in and wonder why you're doing this job.

That's normal.

The officers who struggle aren't the ones who have low motivation.

Sometimes they're the ones who don't know how to manage their motivation when it dips.

So how do you manage motivation over the course of a career?

First, reconnect with your vision.

This is where vision and tenacity intersect.

When your motivation is low, go back to your sense of purpose.

Why did you become a cop?

What matters to you about this work?

How does what you're doing today connect to your larger values and goals?

Second, focus on small wins.

When you're facing a big challenge, it can feel overwhelming.

Break it down into smaller, manageable steps.

Focus on making progress, not achieving perfection.

Each small win builds momentum and restores motivation.

Third, monitor your energy, not just your time.

Not all hours are equal.

You have times of day when your energy and focus are highest.

Try to use those high energy times for your most important and challenging tasks.

Use lower energy times for routine or less demanding work.

Fourth, take breaks strategically.

This job is a marathon, not a sprint.

You need recovery time.

Use your days off to actually recover.

Spend time with family, engage in hobbies, do things that restore you.

Don't just work endless overtime and then wonder why you're burned out.

Fifth, celebrate progress.

Take time to acknowledge when you've done good work, when you've made a difference, when you've overcome a challenge.

Law enforcement culture often focuses on what went wrong rather than what went right.

Intentionally counteract that by recognizing progress and success.

Sixth, manage your self talk.

The way you talk to yourself affects your motivation.

If you're constantly criticizing yourself, telling Yourself, you're not good enough.

You're going to feel depleted.

Practice talking to yourself the way you'd talk to a respected colleague with high standards, but also with compassion and encouragement.

Let me share a specific tenacity technique that's been proven effective with first responders.

The three Good Things Practice this is simple but powerful.

At the end of each day, maybe at the end of your shift or before bed.

Identify three good things that happened that day.

They don't have to be big things.

They can be small.

I had a good conversation with my partner.

I helped someone who was having a bad day.

I got to eat lunch without being interrupted.

The weather was nice.

I made it home safely.

Write them down or share them with your spouse.

The key is to actively notice and acknowledge positive experiences.

Here's why this works.

Your brain has something called a negativity bias.

It's wired to notice and remember negative experiences more than positive ones.

This made sense evolutionarily.

Remembering threats kept our ancestors alive.

But in modern policing, this negativity bias can be harmful.

You see terrible things and your brain latches onto those experiences.

The positive interactions, the successful calls, the routine work.

All of that fades into the background.

The three good things practice counteracts this negativity bias.

It trains your brain to notice and remember positive experiences.

And research shows that healthcare professionals who practice three good things report reduced depressive symptoms even six months later.

This isn't about toxic positivity.

You're not pretending the bad things didn't happen.

You're just making sure you also notice the good things so your view of the world stays balanced.

Let me talk about a tenacity skill that's particularly important for officers who work in high adversity roles.

This is what we call mental load management.

When you're exposed to traumatic material day after day, horrific crime scenes, child abuse cases, violent assaults, it takes a psychological toll.

Researchers call this compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, or secondary traumatic stress.

The symptoms can look a lot like ptsd.

Intrusive thoughts, emotional numbing, hypervigilance, avoidance, irritability.

Except you didn't directly experience the trauma.

You experienced it secondhand through your work.

Mental load management involves strategies for dealing with cumulative exposure to traumatic material.

First, compartmentalization.

The healthy kind.

We talked about this in the composure episode.

When you're at work, focus on the work.

When you're home, focus on being home.

Don't take the job home with you in your head any more than necessary.

This isn't about avoidance.

It's about giving yourself breaks from the traumatic Material so you can recover.

Second, dose the trauma.

If you're working on a particularly horrific case, take breaks.

Don't spend eight hours straight reviewing crime scene photos or victim statements.

Work for a period, then do something else, then come back to it.

Your brain needs time to process.

Third, connect with the mission.

Remind yourself why this work matters.

You're seeking justice for victims.

You're preventing future crimes.

You're giving families closure.

This doesn't make the work easy, but it gives it meaning.

Fourth, maintain your other resilience domains.

When you're doing high trauma work, you need to be even more vigilant about your health, your relationships, your sense of purpose, your thinking patterns.

All of those domains support your ability to handle the mental load.

Fifth, recognize your limits.

There's no shame in saying, I need to rotate out of this unit for a while.

Some people can work high trauma assignments for decades.

Others need to move after a few years.

Know yourself.

Honor your limits.

The research on this is clear.

Officers who do proactive mental load management have lower rates of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.

They're able to do difficult work for longer without burning out.

Let me show you how tenacity connects to the other domains, tenacity and vision.

Your sense of purpose fuels your persistence.

When you know why you're doing something, it's easier to keep going.

When things get hard.

Vision answers the question, why should I keep trying?

Which is essential for tenacity, tenacity and composure.

When you can regulate your emotions effectively, you have more energy available for persistence.

Chronic stress and poor emotional regulation are exhausting.

Good composure skills free up mental resources for tenacity, tenacity and reasoning.

How you think about setbacks directly affects your ability to persist.

If you catastrophize every failure, you'll give up.

If you can think flexibly about challenges, you can keep going.

Your reasoning skills support your tenacity, tenacity and collaboration.

Social support makes persistence easier.

When you have people encouraging you, believing in you, helping you problem solve, it's much easier to keep going.

Strong relationships fuel tenacity, tenacity and health.

Your physical energy affects your mental persistence.

When you're exhausted, sick or in pain, it's hard to keep going.

Taking care of your physical health gives you the energy you need for tenacity.

So what can you do today to build your tenacity?

First, practice the three good Things exercise.

Starting tonight, identify three good things from your day.

Do this every day for at least a week.

Notice how it affects your perspective.

Second, examine your explanatory style.

When something goes wrong, how do you explain it to yourself?

Do you see it as permanent, pervasive and out of your control, or as temporary, specific and something you can influence?

Start consciously shifting toward realistic optimism.

Third, create a lessons learned practice.

After setbacks or difficult calls, take 15 minutes to write down what happened?

What did I do well?

What could I do better?

What did I learn?

This turns failures into growth opportunities.

Fourth, audit your energy management for one week.

Track when your energy is highest and lowest.

Are you using your high energy times well?

Are you taking real recovery time or just collapsing in exhaustion?

Fifth, identify your motivation triggers.

What reconnects you with why you do this work?

Maybe it's a certain type of call.

Maybe it's talking with a mentor.

Maybe it's reflecting on a past success.

Know what restores your motivation so you can use it when you need it.

Sixth, practice self compassion.

When you make a mistake or face a setback, talk to yourself the way you talk to a good friend or respected colleague.

Be honest about what went wrong, but also be kind.

Remember, tenacity is a skill.

Like any skill, it requires practice.

You're not going to master it overnight, but every time you get back up after a setback, every time you choose realistic optimism over catastrophizing, every time you learn from failure instead of being destroyed by it, you're building your tenacity.

Here's what I want you to take away from today's episode.

Tenacity, the ability to persist through difficulties isn't about being tough in the traditional sense.

It's about realistic optimism.

Learning from setbacks, managing your motivation and energy, and keeping going even when things are hard.

The key skills we covered today, developing realistic optimism, learning from failures, practicing three good things, managing your mental load and monitoring your energy are all evidence based strategies for building sustainable persistence.

This job will knock you down.

That's guaranteed.

The question is, do you have the tenacity to get back up?

And not just once, but repeatedly throughout a career.

Building tenacity isn't about never struggling.

It's about having the skills and the support to keep going when you do struggle.

In our next episode, we're going to Explore collaboration, the fifth domain of the PR6 model.

We're going to talk about why relationships and social support are so critical for resilience, how to build high quality connections, and how to maintain relationships even when this job tries to isolate you.

Thank you for listening to Police Speak.

Stay safe out there.

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Police Speak.

We hope you found today's story and insights valuable.

We aim to inform, educate and inspire through the stories we share.

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