What next?!?

So, what’s next…2020? --- Where do we go from here, right?

When you consider a year in your life that requires serious unpacking is 2020 at the top of that list? I know that it certainly is for me for several reasons. (If I am being completely forward, 2019 did not start out all that great either.)

When March came around, I never thought for a moment that I would still be working from home in December. Some point along the way it dawned on me that I had a deep fear about what was coming next. The questions were flying around my brain like a flock of crows awaiting the death of their next meal. Will I get furloughed? How will I connect with my clients? Will I realistically be able to hit the goals set by my company, as well as those professional and financial goals I have set for myself?

All these questions were legitimate, and there was no roadmap that showed the destination of this trip I was on. There is a very familiar and yet uncomfortable tone to the question, “what’s next?” It provokes a sense disruption to your calm. It forces you to consider an infinite number of possibilities. Most of which are not positive. If I wanted to discover some purpose in all of this, I had to find out why this question, at this time, during this year was so haunting.

Suddenly it came to me. I was focusing on one side of a coin that offered a more favorable lens to see things through if I only flipped it over and changed my view. I needed to start looking at what the next opportunity would look like, not the next crisis.

Yes, I was locked down having to work from home, but so were my clients. I was searching for new ways to connect virtually, but so were my clients. I had to modify my business development strategies and so did my potential clients. We were all in the same boat. We were all asking ourselves, “What next?” We were all facing the same challenges. And we all had the same desire to succeed despite this ‘new normal’. Somehow when the realization set in that I was not alone; this gave me hope about those infinite number of possibilities before me. My search for ideas, solutions and answers put me in the same place as so many other people. And now the work I had to put in was not so heavy.  

As this year rounds to a close, take a moment to review your year from a different perspective. Invert your thinking about everything that was challenging and allow yourself to recognize that you and your business were not the only ones impacted. Realize that everyone had to adjust in one way or another, and that very common ground is a fertile place for you to build upon for 2021. Become an ally for your clients, because they have been traveling the same road as you this year.