Reflections a Year into Lockdown

Hi folks from Baja!

I’ve been “working from home” from Baja during February - which has been magical! The sun, the ocean, and the company of whales have been wonderful antidotes to the chaos of our times. For those of you wondering….YES I brought my kettlebells and have been making good use of them!

But I am also coaching myself to do as I advise my clients to - keep the most important thing the most important thing. In this case, that means I’m on a sprint to finish the manuscript for my book “From Startup to Grownup,” coming out in October of this year. Much more about that in this space as we get closer to that date.

For the moment I just wanted to post a few reflections and thoughts I had from the onset of lockdown.

The most significant thing I did in March was let in that little voice that told me: do not waste this time. It was tempting – very – to allow my self-pitying scared self to take over. It would have been easy to watch a lot of movies and eat a lot of carbs. And I would not have been the only one to do so.

But I didn’t. I committed myself to use this time in a way that, when looking back, I would feel proud. I thought a lot about what would make me feel that way and two clear answers emerged.

A) Take a step forward on writing the book you said you wanted to write

B) Be more deliberate in how you use your time and stop procrastinating.

Those were my commitments. Both of these were very uncomfortable for me – there’s a reason I had never worked through my block in writing a book! I procrastinated so that I wouldn’t have to feel the discomfort of uncertainty. But, I found, as did the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the 1700s: “At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.”

So a question for you to consider: What will you commit to so that your future self will applaud you?

I (and everyone I knew) had lived with a sense that you can count on your life being more or less the same, and changes come when you decide to make them.

No more. The pandemic robbed me of having the illusion of control. I was in deep mourning for my past life – the life I had built in NYC, the life I loved. It was also the life I had counted on. I knew where I was headed to and where I was in that process, and I knew how to keep score. But there was another side to that certainty. I had been ignoring some of the passions that would feed my spirit.

A new voice inside of me asked this: what are you waiting for? For years I had been putting off creative pursuits. Yes, I had invested in Broadway shows over the past few years, but in my heart, I wanted to be a performer. I put off exploring that until – well, until someday in the future.

For no reason except for fun, I decided to create a music video. I called up a friend for help and he talked me into doing a rap music video we created together, called “The Work Is In You.” It was super uncomfortable. It was also incredibly rewarding. I knew I needed more music in my life, and now I had this little experience. Next, I found a piano and started taking lessons.

The pandemic freed me up to do something just for myself.

So a question for you: What are you waiting for?

One element of a rich life that has been much harder for everyone is meeting new people and staying connected with people that you were used to running into organically. We are hopefully looking forward to a new stage of a bit more freedom of movement, although we will still be mostly virtual for some time to come. But, it’s time to rejuvenate your network! To help you do this Knowable asked me to create a course called “Learn to Love Networking.” If you choose to join Knowable ($50 for the year for unlimited courses) you can listen to my course. 

As always, I also have plenty of free content on the topic of networking, including this article about how to use your weak ties in networking and this blog about the key people to have in your network. I would love to hear your reflections on any of these resources and, in particular, how you are going to use them to rejuvenate YOUR network!

Finally, here is a great idea to insert a little bit of fun into the lives of the people around you. My friend Douglas Widick founded and runs an incredible and unique company called Very Own Song. He and his talented team will make you your very own song for a friend’s birthday, anniversary, any other milestone, or - definitely - just because. As a special offering to my tribe, he created a coupon for $10 off for his services using the code "FRIENDOFALISA". Douglas is fun, hilarious, and inspiring. (He is also the creative genius behind my rap video.)

Let me know in the comments what has kept you inspired through this year - I am always looking for more inspiration!

Alisa