Currently

“New Normal”

“Pivot”

“Unprecedented”

We’d be kidding ourselves if we pretended 2020 wasn’t life changing, personally and professionally.

As a health and well-being expert, I motivate organizations and individuals to take a (science-based) leap of faith and try something new/different/better to change the status quo and be better. My overarching goal for everyone I work with is for people/planet/businesses to be healthy now and in the future. I’m not letting the pandemic take away that mission or focus. Nor should you.

Here are four of my tips to stay positive and be brave enough to try something new for your health and well-being while our next chapter begins.

1. Focus on what you can do today. Thinking about changes that can be sustained in the future when we don’t know what that future looks like can be exasperating. So instead, consider each moment in front of you for the next 10-12 hours. Yes, of course we still want a long term vision of what we are trying to achieve. The difference is, while we keep the view of that finish line in sight, we focus on the little moments and each task that supports us getting there. Can you walk up and down your stairs for 1-3 minutes between meetings? Can you drink a few glasses of water before lunch? Can you do it again before dinner? Can you add a fruit and/or veggie to each meal or snack? How about choosing to go to bed with the goal of 7-8 hours of rest in mind? Can you schedule meetings that end in 45 minutes instead of an hour to allow think/transition/human time? Yep. Each of these moments matters. Pick one (or more) and get it done. Repeat tomorrow.
2. Do something little. Reread point number one for inspiration. You can do this. Forget the ginormity of the overall goal. Get the “today objectives” squared away and guess what – after a week, you will check in on your bigger goal(s) and see progress. Boom.
3. Be uncomfortable in something you choose. Let’s be honest. The world has made most of us super uncomfortable without our choice in the matter, especially lately. Be that as it may, it’s time to choose something to shake things up that you DO get to pick. Find an online course in a subject you want to learn more about. Go for a walking meeting (socially distant/masked up/on the phone) instead of sitting through another one. CHOOSE a new way to pass the time. Turn off the TV and read a book. Speak to a colleague about a point of stress between you and get it resolved. What else comes to mind? This may seem weird because you haven’t been doing it. Turns out, this new weird/uncomfortable may just become your new thing.
4. Don’t let what may or may not happen tomorrow impede your progress today. We can make good choices right now. They may look different than they used to yesterday, and they may look super different tomorrow. That’s fine. We don’t do all the same things as adults that we did when we were 10 (hopefully). That’s called progress. 😉

Remember that saying “variety is the spice of life”? Let’s remember that and next time we need to “pivot” into another “new normal”, we’ll be ready.

What will you try today?