Time to design our own"New Normal"!

During the corona crisis, I have, like so many others, been coaching leaders for free. Some of them were repeating themselves: "When do you think things will be normal?". I keep repeating myself, that′s all right, we′re all in a transition: "This is The New Normal".

"The sooner the better you adapt to the new normal, you will become the leader that fits the needs of the present", I told the leaders again and again while showing them how to do it.

Try to do an experiment in your mind: Imagine we are back in October 2019 and you get that thought that at the beginning of 2020 a virus will infect all of our lives on the planet. It will lead to workplaces, schools and public places are closing down. We are not allowed to gather in public events and we have to keep a distance of at least 2 meters to other people. Millions will be out of work and governments put together the largest economic support package, ever to support people to survive during this crisis. Would you believe in that?

In a hurry the world is upside down, and this so rapidly that we did not see the changes. In history we have heard that societies are incapable of making such big changes, this quickly. Yet it is far beyond our comprehension, within few months, industries have changed, rapidly.

No return to the "Old Normal" - it′s all gone! The rapidly developing changes are coming so fast that it’s hard to predict just HOW radical they are.

We start from here: Everything has changed and we have exhibited a unique ability to adapt. The whole planet has changed in an incent - we had to!

So what are we waiting for?? Still, some wait for "The Old Normal", or for "Someone to tell me what to do" (what I hear).

History has taught us from any crisis, whether it is a war-ending or economic crisis, people do some effort to change things to something new and better, that′s how we are.

As an Executive Coach, I integrate neuroscience to support the understanding in situations like these, in transformations and big Turn Arounds, I′m leading - It′s almost the same!

Of course, we are all worried, scared or get anxious, it is natural. When we are in the middle of a new virus, we watch people die on TV, and there is no cure, of course, we are afraid. We are far out of our comfort zone and have no idea how to keep us safe.

During the time, humans evolved a new layer on top of our more primitive survival brain, it is called the prefrontal cortex. It helps us plan and thinking creatively to create our future and it also predicts what the future brings, based on our past experience. In this situation, in the midst of the corona crisis, information is lacking, and our prefrontal cortex lays out very different scenarios of what might happen, and guesses which will be most likely to happen. This by running simulations based on previous events that are most similar to the one we are in right now.

So anxiety appears when our prefrontal cortexes do not have enough information to accurately predict the future. We see this right now in times of coronavirus.

And without accurate information, it is easy for our brains to spin stories of fear and dread. On top of being anxious and feeling helpless, anxiety is also contagious. When talking to others we can spread our emotions, social contagion. It is spread through our words and expressions of our fear, we hear the breath of the other person and get the same feelings.

It is like the brain gets the same impulses and immediately feels the same, as the one, speaking on the phone, even though they are far away from us. The prefrontal cortex will only focus on these feelings, our concern of our families, children, elder and ourselves.

The easy way is to let panic spread, buy groceries for the next six months, never get out in the fresh air or slow down our lives and watch the news 24/7. This is not helping anyone.

I encourage everyone, I speak with to cheer up, go for long walks in the beautiful nature, do what you never had time to before, and get ready for The New Normal, right outside your door! I know there is a lot of uncertainty, but if we decide to focus on the positive of all this, we might find something that can help us during these times and shape our future, for a better one.

"It′s easier said than done", a leader replied to me, on a phone call, yesterday. This needs some explanation, and we talked about it while watching a power-point series, I′ve made.

A lesson of how our brain try to help us out of anxiety if we just let it. The brain is not able to think clearly when we are feeling stressed, the prefrontal cortex is not working in situations like these - so it is not possible to think yourself to a solution.

Instead, what you can do is: Be aware that becoming anxious and stop breathing normally, will only lead to bad health. Replace your worries with your here and now - what can you do now, to feel better? What would you love to eat? Have you seen the flowers this spring? etc.

What we do here is replacing habits that are much more giving and rewarding for you - instead of keeping yourself locked up in worries. You have to help yourself here and now.

Helping your brain to find calm and peace is a big step on the way. Asking yourself questions, a way of coaching yourself can help you find that place inside yourself that you find your own way to cope with the situation - self-care is very much in need in times like these.

The benefit of coaching yourself is that it creates connections with yourself, your inner potential filled with power, an incredible skill to be creative and finding new paths in our lives. You build-up your ability to think and help your brain to work normally again. This affects the whole body, you become much more relaxed and are able to do something.

Building up certainty is the next step. Through this corona crisis, we often hear that it is good to be outside, go for walks, talk to someone on the phone while you both are walking. Taking good care of our brains is crucial to moving even more away from anxiety. While we keep up doing things we love, we create new habits. I have heard people doing things like cleaning their cellar, doing the garden or giving away clothes they never use.

Doing things that makes us feel better, takes away the uncertainty; it brings new patterns in our brains, doing things we did not have the time to before, might even bring some advances in this situation, help our family stay healthy. I mean, just try to find the good in the difficult.

Our brain is built to learn new things, and when we do these things over and over again, it will become natural. And easier. And better. Our brain can make the patterns you want to shape, chose the habits that are good for you, start in these times when you are at home. Within a short time, you will see tremendous changes if you hold on to them!

Remember to take breaks to do something good for yourself, take deep breaths, go outside do some exercise, yoga or whatever makes your body feel better. Movements really helps the brain recover much faster, so this is also very beneficial.

In every area of life, private, personal, family, health, work, etc. - set some goals for yourself, start slowly one by one. Be the change you want out of life - create it yourself.

I′m encouraging you to write your own story - to design your own version of "New Normal" The history is not stagnation - it is constantly changing, design your own, now is the chance!

The world has changed many times, and it will be changing again. Adaption is the key; otherwise, we get lost and sad. The way we live our lives, work and relate to others will define how capable we are of adapting to the new normal, whatever it will be in the future. When we confront changes next time, we will be so much more prepared.

Are you ready to design your life, to get the best out of the current situation? Or let me help you.