Lockdown Realizations!

Pandemics have long been seen as possible black swan events – unexpected negative shocks with major consequences. The Covid-19 pandemic is such as a black swan event. It continues to reset our lives to new normal. We stayed indoors; in fact, at one point of time, nearly half of the world was in lockdown. While it has seriously curtailed economic activities causing inconvenience to many, there is also a brighter side. The pollution levels came down dramatically; as result, people in north India can see the grand Himalayas from more than 100 miles away. Dolphins are seen in the canals in Venice as the water is clearer than it has been for a long time.

The lockdown was also once-in-a-life-time opportunity for all of us to press the pause button of our lives. It provided quiet time for all of us to reflect and reset our lives. During the lockdown, as I reflected regularly, I have had few realizations.

1/ Trust and Inspiration: Our entire team started working remotely from home. In the initial few weeks, many managers started developing a new syndrome called, "FOND" - “fear of not done”. Since they cannot see their physically co-located teams and collaborate face to face, there was always an apprehension if things are actually getting done as planned. Hence was the FOND syndrome. But as lockdown got extended and the teams continued to work remotely, we found that our teams were delivering as planned. In fact, they are putting more hours to make things happen. And the FOND syndrome was gone eventually.

When I reflected, I realized that trust and empathy are fundamental to any relationship – personal or professional. They are also foundational blocks of leadership. The more we trust our team, the more we empower them. The more we empower our team, the more inspired they feel. And more inspired people are around us, mountains can be moved.

2/ Passion and Dispassion: As we continue to work remotely, the experience of getting stuck in Bangalore traffic seemed like things of the past. However, the boundaries between personal and professional time blurred. At times, days & nights, weekdays & weekends just became the same. But no one was complaining. In fact, we figured out ways to divide our professional and family times to strike a healthy work-life balance.

I realized that it is more necessary now than before to have personal time for myself to get recharged. I experimented to pursue a period of dispassion or disengagement after a focused period of passion or engagement. For example, I practiced Saturdays as “no screens day" – no calls, no meetings, no Whatsapp, no twitter, no TV, no matter what. Instead, I spent the time in trying out new hobbies and fun activities such as gardening, singing, dancing and playing pranks with family. It was simply therapeutic and did wonders to recharge my energy levels. I started saying TGIM – Thank God, Its Monday!

3/ Habits and Success: Theories and examples are galore that success people have certain well-developed habits. During the lockdown, I went through two books on habits – The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Tiny habits by BJ Fogg.

Charles Duhigg articulates the habit loop of cue-routine-reward and its power to inculcate new habits and break bad habits. But the concept of tiny habits outlined by BJ Fogg was simply intriguing and interesting. It is just a simple idea – start with tiny habits and stick to them no matter what. For example, start with just 2 push-ups, read 10 minutes, write 5 minutes etc; do these tiny habits every day. Over a period, these small changes become sticky and change everything.

I experimented few tiny habits during the lockdown. I started yoga, reading and meditating. I started with 15 seconds of Padmasana (it was difficult for me to sit in that posture!)  and now, I can sit for 10 minutes. I started reading 10 minutes every day and now, 60 minutes. I started with 2 minutes meditation and now, 10 minutes.

I realized that it was easy to do tiny habits. I did not want to miss doing these even for a single day. I was consistent. After a period, these tiny habits have become sticky and serious habits and I am fully embedded into the habit cycle of cue-routine-reward.

Success is directly proportional to striving and sacrifice - to achieve more success, one must strive and sacrifice more. Striving is all about consistently doing a set of repetitive activities called habits. So, start tiny, be consistent. After all, a journey of thousand miles starts with one single step.

4/ Purpose and Passion: During the lockdown I reflected on one key question - Why are we doing what we are doing?

There is this mad rush and rat race all over the world. We may be overly obsessed with success - to have more power, more money and more “things”. We often neglect our health, family and friends. Ultimately, what we are chasing in our lives is – to be happy, aren’t we?

The lockdown made me realize that – thoda hai, thode ki zaroorat hai (We have little, We need little).

If our purpose is to “get more”, it may not give us sustainable happiness, as the there is no end to getting more, more and more. In contrast, if our purpose is to “give more” without expecting anything in return, we are driven from within. So, we do more, we become more, and we feel happy.  

5/ Me and Myself: There are enough theories that endorse meditation as a great way to stay focused and energized. So, I started with this tiny habit of meditation. I started with 2 minutes, it became 5 minutes and 10 minutes now.

I realized that a regular practice of meditation actually helped in being more conscious of myself. I felt being more alive – being aware of our physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions. I became more conscious of my thoughts and feelings – good or bad, and what I need to do about it. I was more focused. I felt more grateful for what we have rather than cribbing and worrying about the external situations not in our control.

I realized the meaning of the powerful words Swami Vivekanand has said - “Talk to yourself once in a day. Otherwise you may miss an excellent person in this world.”

What are your realizations during the lockdown? Please share it in comments. Looking forward hearing from you.

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