While it’s certainly not been the year we planned for, it’s all we have.
So get going because there is:
There’s No Time Like Now
How many times have you heard someone say:
When things go back to normal… When things calm down… When we get through this period… When we can see where things are going…
In periods of great uncertainty, it’s understandable to seek stability. In normal times we feel in control of our lives. Even when things go awry - our wealth rises and falls, our businesses grow or shrink, our day gets derailed by an email - we rarely respond by sitting and waiting until things go back to normal.
Recently I was coaching a client who had weathered a fair share of economic and industry storms. “It feels different this time,” she said. “It is different,” I agreed. “It's always different. Last time it was the market. The time before, technology. This time, a virus. Next time, something else. The question isn’t how uncertainty manifests each time. The question is what consistently turns those differences into opportunity.”
“Me,” she admitted.
“Isn’t that why you continue to grow?” I recounted the steps she’d taken over the past few years, ever since things “calmed down” from last time.
“The reason you got better wasn’t to prevent change, but be ready to act when it happened again,” I said. “That’s always the only choice.” Our initial impulse under stress and difficulty is to stop and wait, observing and analyzing the situation. The trick is to prevent our analysis from becoming paralysis. That’s why we practice on small things in normal times. Flat tire? Change it. Canceled flight? Reschedule and get there. Job loss? Network and get a new one. Rarely do we agree to sit and wait.
So what happens when times feel not normal?
It depends upon your focus. A few months ago times were “normal” and many people complained of being unable to act then, too. There was no inventory. Competitors stole their salespeople. Newcomers wouldn’t play by the musty rules. All those inhibitors existed then, too. And yet we strove to deal with them, gathering and planning and designing steps which we call:
Plans of action!
After September 11th, someone opened a new business, started a new family and built a new house. During the financial crisis, someone hired staff and called prospects and innovated new products. Yesterday, someone moved forward, not waiting for what the future would bring, but putting plans into motion, taking calculated risks and making changes long overdue.
Not because things got back to normal:
But because they are always normal!
It is always right now that you must act. In fact, we’re built for these moments. We've trained our whole lives for life's situations. We’re exactly what is needed. We’ve been studying and practicing and becoming someone capable of handling anything - like today - because everything could be a part of life.
That’s why words like 'disruption' and 'unprecedented' and 'unparalleled’ shouldn't slow us down. On the contrary, they bring the opposites immediately to our minds: Unwavering, Remarkable and Unique. That’s when we know nothing happening can't be handled by the ultimate resource at your command:
You!
If there’s anything to get back to, it’s motion. Stop waiting for something else to change first - like the economy or science or the universe. Just take another step. Not with perfect guarantee but with enough confidence that only our actions can bring us closer to what’s most important to us - most certainly.
And that, my friends, is what is truly ever normal.
#alwaysinspiring