DEFINING AND BUILDING A BETTER NORMAL FOR OURSELVES
GOING FORWARD, SHOULDN’T YOUR LIFE BE BUILT AROUND A BETTER NORMAL?
As we prepare to make our grand entrance into the post-pandemic world, this phase of establishing a new normal also presents us with a fresh start to define and build a better normal, one that resonates with core objectives:
- To achieve the best version of ourselves and our lives: engagement in critical learning and self-building activities
- To bring fulfillment and joy to our lives: participation in meaningful activities and relationships
- To preserve our natural environment and resources: activation of self-initiated, meaningful action
- To provide practical assistance, compassionate support, and solidarity for the members of our interconnected, interdependent human community
We must make it our assignment to use the invaluable lessons that we learnt during the pandemic as the foundation upon which we construct a better normal.
MOVE FROM DECISION TO INITIATION
Many of us would have experienced our day of reckoning followed by the all-important “D-day” – Decision Day. A better normal compels us to change for the better now, in order to realize our best future.
For many of us, our experience during the pandemic exposed some of the habitual missteps that have caused us to underperform and underachieve in key areas of our lives – such as finances, health, self-care, life balance, and career advancement.
The time to initiate action is NOW!
EMBARK UPON PROJECT ME
Project Me is the most important and challenging project that we will ever embark upon in life. This project highlights the need for a Priority Me emphasis: I must be a priority in my own life. Retooling must be a major phase of this project and some overarching retooling principles include:
- Viewing disruptions as “normal” and welcoming them as a source of personal development, energy, momentum, learning, creativity, self-development, self-creation, and innovation. This will broaden your knowledge, skills, and attitudes to empower yourself to.
- Becoming an insurgent disruptor in your own life to remove stumbling blocks that you or others have placed in your path and gain the momentum that you need to move forward and keep moving in the right direction. As a disruptor, boldly question and rationalize the relevance and effectiveness of certain values, norms, actions, and behaviours, and retool yourself with new ones as needed.
- Building emotional courage to escape the pitfalls of waiting until things look or feel better or more certain before you act. Establish action-stimulating goals that will drive purpose, initiate decisive action, and propel movement.
- Becoming an autodidactic or self-directed learner. Motivate yourself to learn without being told; search out the right resources to gain the knowledge you need; learn new subjects and skills without the guidance of a teacher or a formal learning opportunity; become skilled at figuring things out; aim to achieve mastery level in everything you do.