Choose your own adventure post-pandemic

How many people do you know that have made significant life changes during the pandemic?

If you haven’t are you feeling a touch of FOMO (fear of missing out) ?

So many changes have occurred in the last few years at all levels.?We have changed the way we live, work and create.?We are more flexible in what we can do, and how we do it.?There are other ways to work which pleasingly we have discovered!?Whether it’s a big move, a relationship bust up, a new job, learning a new language or taking up a new instrument so much change has occurred.?

This time can be viewed as a revival of sorts.

The covid dust has largely settled and perhaps now is the time where we can reassess where we are at, what we want and how we can live the life we want.

Taking back the power

When change occurs, it can feel it is being done to us.?Particularly when you haven’t initiated the change.?This can leave us feeling powerless and that we have lost control.?It’s super useful if we are feeling powerless to focus on what we can control.?This can reframe the feeling of being stuck, to being unstuck.?It is freeing and reminds us of what we can do, the decisions we can make, and how to make the most of any situation.?

In the phenomenon known as the Stockholm syndrome, victims that have been captured, end up feeling empathy for their captors, often defending them.?“Covid Stockholm syndrome” has also been recognised by some as the feeling of helplessness about moving on in a world where we now live with covid, and we are relatively free to live our lives as we did pre covid.?Some of us are in fact now accustomed to the adaptive lives we have accepted.?This might look like going out less, being concerned about catching covid, and not wanting to return to work in the way you may have pre pandemic.

Reassessing what matters

If covid has prompted you to rethink what matters, you’re not alone.?A journal article published in the BMC Public health journal found that job stability, travel and a reassessment of our values were what many Australians reconsidered during the pandemic.?The article states that “For many participants, this change meant slowing down and appreciating the present as much as the future.” One respondent to the qualitative study was quoted saying, “It has made me think more about making today count”.

As we experience change, we do get to reimagine a different set of potential outcomes and possibilities.?This can help us to feel free, rather than trapped by the change, and it provides a sense of empowerment.?

?Knowing what you want

So if you are enticed by this new world of change and possibility where can you start??A good place is with your values and beliefs.?These can provide the basis, almost like the foundations of a house.?Without it, it can be challenging to filter decisions and opportunities as they come your way.?

Following this, you may also like to consider questions like:

“What matters most to me?”

"What do I want, professional, personally, emotionally, financially, spiritually, physically, mentally?”

Some time spent in a reflective state, maybe outdoors, or in your favourite spot with a pen and paper?can be an absolute game changer in you choosing your own adventure, post pandemic.

?

Rita Cincotta writes, mentors, and speaks on individual and team performance, leadership development, resilience and new ways of working. She works with organisations to develop human centred solutions that help people and businesses to thrive. For more information go to www.ritacincotta.com

?

?