I have this thought that if I’m alive, then I’m equipped to deal with everything being thrown in my direction including a new normal.
I was super pumped this week as I received great reviews of the lifestyle kit that I shared last week. If you missed it, you can read it here.
So this week we pick up where we left off and we are adding 5 new items to this kit that you can use in good and bad times.
6. A New Normal call for a New Routine and New Habits.
When catastrophes happen like COVID19, things change. A new normal comes to be and we are all faced with a decision. When HIV-AIDS first set upon humanity, people were forced into new habits and routines. The 2008 economic meltdown showed us that capitalism is a fragile concept that can bring our lives tumbling down.
Among many other things COVID19 is showing us that primary to our entire lifestyles, is how we deal with self. I see some families forming the new habits of taking evening walks together around the estate, fathers are taking the lead on holding daily family moments with their kids. Others are getting in the habit of flipping channels, others refreshing their Twitter, and Facebook handles to get the latest news. If you are going to develop a new habit, let it be one that you can look at fondly and confess that it enriches your life.
7. Craft your future
Everyone has been affected by this Corona virus. The future is yet to be lived but it can be crafted. Crafted because you know you and by virtue of being alive, it means you can weather anything that is thrown at you in this season. Some people are saying, “we are waiting for this to be over then we go back to….” You don’t go back to the future.
When air travel resumes, international destinations will have requirements, that are yet to be crafted. Vaccines for newborns might be altered to include the Corona vaccine, schools might be out for long and that means children staying in the home setting for a couple of months.
Which professions will be most in demand 2-3 months from now? Mergers & Acquisitions? Personal Trainers? Content Creators? Personal Coaching? Psychologists? Researchers? The simple question is, 12-18 months from today, where will you be on the map of what is the new normal.
8. Don’t survive. Thrive in the new normal
Post COVID19, we will have survived the worst but we won’t thrive by just getting by. We need to be actively and decisively deciding which direction our lives will take. Governments should not slow down or stop the industrious nature of its departments which proved to be income-generating during the crisis.
If your household managed to get by without junk food because you cut back on expenses, why get back to the junk? If reading for 30 minutes enriches your conversations during the crisis, why stop reading when the crisis is over. Thriving requires us to actively build on the good habits that we develop during moments of crisis and hard decisions. Don’t craft a future that only facilitates your survival, craft one that causes you to thrive.
9. Don’t accumulate debt
In moments of crisis, debt is attractive because you get to spend money you don’t have on things and situations that demand immediate attention. Sometimes these situations are not life-threatening. They just threaten your comfort zone and possibly some wrongly held values. One of the books that really helped me deal with the issue of sent early in my working life was The Richest Man in Babylon. It offers previous awakening lessons on how to manage life in lean financial times. Debt not only sucks the life out of you, but it also threatens relationships and future growth
10. Maintain relationships
Quarantine is not a healthy state for many people. There are people who can’t stand being alone. Not because they are abnormal. No. It’s because they have been so used to being busy that problems and challenges under the carpet have always been nonexistent. They have been stripped away of their refuge during the quarantine or lockdown season
What happens to you when your safe house is gone? Trauma sets in.
It is important that you maintain close contact with people who may or may not be in your regular cycle just to keep up people’s sense of self-worth. Genuine concern is a double-edged sword that gives you and the other person a feel-good effect once it’s done.
Purpose to call or text someone today that you haven’t been in touch with since the quarantine began and just find out how they are doing. That’s all. No pre-meditated moves. Just, “Hello, how are you doing?”
A crisis is not a bad thing. It’s just a season for us to make critical life choices under pressure with the future normal as our harshest critic. The past doesn’t matter anymore. It is what you do from here on… Be equipped with this lifestyle kit.
Next week, we talk about drowning monkeys and paying it forward. Don’t miss out…
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