FIGHT THE WAVE OF FAMILIARITY IN COMMITTING TO NEW WAYS OF THINKING, WORKING AND LIVING
Two weeks ago in my blog I offered a challenge to consider what you would bring with you and leave behind from quarantine (link). When I wrote that, I had this crystal-clear vision of what the past ten weeks had taught me and exactly how I was going to move out of this with an evolved sense of purpose, renewed disciplines and a clear perspective. The challenge is, the pull of familiarity appears to be rearing its ugly head.
While lifting stay at home requirements has initiated a renewed energy – a sense of getting on with things - it has also offered a misplaced nostalgia about who we were before. While I am as ready as anyone to return to some kind of “normal life” there is an equal part of me wanting to push back really hard against the force of the familiar that feels like a wave crashing over my head.
This is a real fight. I can feel it in how I plan my day, how I approach conversations – even in my waning commitment to yoga that was such an effective tool in coping with quarantine. The imagined comfort of going back to old patterns of behavior and thought processes are tugging at me. New disciplines and habits feel so easily abandoned by the muscle memory of reflex and the energy and strength required to continue to step out of that comfort zone and forge new ways of thinking and behaving.
I have heard this same struggle from others in so many conversations this week. There is great comfort in resuming the old way of how you thought about your business, interacted with your teams, or prioritized your life. Picking up where you left off would mean this was just a blip, with our lives and businesses on track to be all they were before, save a little less travel to and from. In our hearts we know this is not a return to normalcy, yet as we emerge from crisis mode, the pull of old habits is strong.
I don’t want to have gone through all of this just to revert back to what was. But real change takes more than just a desire or an insight. Real change requires a conscious and concerted effort. It takes reminders posted on computer screens, new ques to resolve old triggers, or mantras spoken in your mind before a tough conversation. It takes purposeful and intentional planning on how you spend your time, who you spend it with, how you analyze your business and what your mindset is in all that you do.
While that little taste of what life was like before immediately pulled me back, I will not allow the nostalgia of habit to stop my progress. If we don’t create a clear intention and plan to hold on to all we have learned, we will have gone through all of this challenge and gained nothing but heartache. COVID-19 has already taken too much. I won’t let it have that too. Purpose will be what guides me moving forward. What will guide you and how will you work to make sure that happens?
Happy Friday Everyone!
Stay well.
PS –One thing I vowed to take with me when I left quarantine was my virtual yoga practice led by Joe Cavanagh, an inspiring, talented and incredibly entertaining teacher. Hold me accountable by joining me there on Monday at 6:00 pm. You won’t regret it. www.sandlotyoga.com
