Finding The New Normal
As we head into week six of social distancing, we've all experienced a myriad of ups and downs.
Depending on your personality blend and approach to life, you may be in any one (or all three!) of these stages right now.
The good news is you're not alone. EVERY person is feeling it in some way.
How you respond to any new change in life is really the key factor in how quickly you start your engines again.
Last week I heard a great statement (from my awesome friend, colleague, and Learning Expert, Ella Bates) that helps us navigate through times of change: "Norming, Forming, Storming".
NORMING: In times of uncertainty, our human nature is to NORMALIZE what's happening around us. It's the thing our brains are wired to do - to keep us safe. It's the first phase that helps us cope with changes we can't control.
I believe most people have passed through this stage, and we're collectively moving beyond this now.
The next stage is FORMING - a way of setting up a new structure to handle all the changes coming our way. You may have created a new schedule to manage working from home, helping your kids with school work, when, how, and who will do grocery shopping, and how many nights of the week will be movie nights (#everynightwasmovienight).
This may be the phase where we picked up the Covid-19, or 20 pounds; yoga-pant-lovers united, and business on top, party-PJs on the bottom for all those Zoom biz calls.
Tell me I'm not the only one here...
STORMING: This is where the shift happens; where we start cooking with gas. It allows us the ability to look back at how we normalized a new circumstance, how we took our first crack at forming a new way of doing things, and NOW, we can improve upon the initial crude system and modify into a better, more effective and powerful approach. This is the phase we turn our engines on to full speed again.
For me, I started creating new systems, charting changes and making notes again. I'm reading more, being selective in who I'm learning from, and refocusing my goals. I'm going back to the original plan I made for 2020 with a few twists to better reflect the current atmosphere.
What about you?
What Stage Are You In?
Wherever you are, it's all good...
Norming, Forming, Storming
No matter which phase you find yourself in right now or even if you fluctuate between all three throughout the day, just know that you're doing a great job.
Our human nature has a way of helping us find a new normal as quickly as possible.
Just make sure that at some point, you create the new normal that you want.
Never before have we been given the gift of a collective 'restart' quite like this. What a wonderful time to really create the life we want to live.
Comment below and tell me some things you've done away with, and what new strategies you've created that really light you up!
Until next time, be well.
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