After a few months of glorious Co-Vid freedom and an ongoing feeling of ‘I’m lucky to live in the paradise of New Zealand”, it all came to a screeching halt and a slap in the face reality last week when our Prime Minister announced lockdown levels across the country.
I like many people I have spoken with felt like a slowly deflating balloon and emotions flipped from being pissed off to grateful to worrying about my business, to excitement for change and a bit of Co-Vid exhaustion! No doubt many of you can relate to what I’m saying!!
I guess it was that evening press conference that brought it home to me even more, is that nothing can be guaranteed, that change is inevitable and that getting back to “normal” will not be a reality – and what does “normal” mean anyway!
Essentially this virus isn’t going anywhere, so we have to learn how to adapt and become comfortable with change and a new way of being. However, for many the uncertainty, the need for change, the lack of clarity as to where this will head and how to be comfortable mentally with this change can become a perfect recipe for anxiety if we don’t all start working on our mental fitness.
Even though I am a bit of a mental fitness ninja after years of training, I still felt my mood starting to slip, and I realised I was having an unusually low week. I was supposed to be on holiday this week too, to rest and take in new scenery but that was dashed due to lockdown.
I was exhausted from working so hard through the last 8 months without a break (due to Co-Vid demands), and everything seemed a bit taxing and I started to doubt my abilities to keep building my business in different ways in this new world. I realised I had been so pre-occupied with what I couldn’t do and what I needed to do, that I felt a bit like I was in mourning! So, I gave myself permission to feel sad about it all, and then I started to feel better as my mind turned to the new undiscovered business opportunities of this new world.
So I have been kind to myself this last week and it feels good!
As leaders it is essential we raise our EQ, so that we can tune in to the multiple ways our new world is affecting our friends, family, work colleagues, employees and people in general. We can feel compassion and empathy for them and still have our own sense of loss. We are all paying a price.
To feel sad, annoyed or hard done by, that you won’t be going on that special holiday this year, or going to a huge festival, or rugby matches, or concerts or theatres for the foreseeable future is not being disrespectful to anyone else’s losses. It’s the little pleasures in our life that make our day. These things are important and the loss of them is real.
But through all of this, we must refocus the lens on what is really important to each one of us. Even the small things that make up our day.
Life isn’t perfect right now, but the sun is still shining (even above the clouds) and we have a lot of treasure in our life if we care to look and refocus our lens of life.
Let’s get in touch and work together to make the change impactful, or you can visit our website to find out more!
