3 min –

It’s Time to Prepare for the Next New Normal

We’ve been waiting a long time for good news. And now there’s hope on the horizon. With vaccines rolling in, cases trending down, and some regions already declared “fully open,” it may start to feel like the worst of the pandemic is behind us. But will we truly return to where we left off before this all began? The answer is no, and I submit that we won’t want to return to our old ways.

The pandemic has shown us a few things.

The fact is, amidst lockdowns, disruptions and adjusting to isolation — plus new ways of conducting ourselves in public, caring for our children, and working (or not working) — many of our personal boundaries for what we can tolerate or adapt to have been steamrollered. Even worse, millions of families worldwide are still deep in grief over loved ones who were taken too soon.

We’re not out of the woods yet. More uncertainty lies ahead. Alarming variants are on the rise. It will take a very long time to vaccinate 80% of the world’s 7.8+ billion people.

How can we possibly handle more disruption?

Any time our boundaries are pushed, it provides us with the opportunity to look in the mirror. We should all be able to recognize that we’ve stumbled along the way. And we should always be forgiving of ourselves for doing so.

Let’s take an inventory of our experience in the past year.

Seven points to consider:

• How well did we deal with uncertainty?
• Have any non-constructive habits or behaviors impeded our experience?
• Did we appropriately handle an emotional situation?
• Did we make our best decisions?
• Were we able to effectively coach our teams or those who look up to us?
• Have we had a consistently mindful presence?
• Are we truly making a difference with our contribution to the world?

Even when we do get back to a more comfortable existence, we’ll find that our world has forever changed. Some of our favorite restaurants or businesses may have closed. The online experience will continue to occupy an ever bigger component of our lives, as more office workers than ever will spend more time working from home. Online education and training, even after children have returned to classrooms, is also here to stay.

While we grieve our losses, we should also recognize that something better generally arises following big disruptions. I believe that we’ll enter a mini-renaissance of sorts. The pandemic will have accelerated new, innovative ways of engaging our colleagues and environment. So now is the time to ask ourselves if we’re prepared.

A mentor once told me, “it’s not so important to know what our future will bring as it is to know how we’ll receive it.” She was talking about embracing a growth mindset — continually developing ourselves so that we become ever more graceful and adept with whatever comes our way.

As we anticipate our next chapter in life, here are some key questions to ask of ourselves or our teams. Am I putting my best self forward? Is my organization’s culture growing and thriving? Is it sustainable? Are we truly making a difference here? How can we prioritize our personal or organizational development to better receive our future?

What better time than now for us to invest in developing and strengthening our grace?