Like many I’m struggling to balance my love for being outside, being active, setting my own challenges or spending time having micro adventures with boychild (T), with the current climate of lockdown, social distancing or isolation and the resulting uncertainty. My need to be physically active and adventurous has been called “selfish”, and I can understand that, but what is “selfish”, if its necessary for both physical and mental health? And how crucial both physical and mental health are, in times such as this…
For me, being active, spending time outdoors, developing goals and challenges are the things that keen me “zen” as T would say; and he’s right. But while the idea of being socially distant or isolated isn’t that hard to get your head around, in fact as an ambivert myself, I’m often happiest in the solitude of my own company; the reality is that as the trappings of our social and communal lives are stripped away, from the daily commute and work to shopping, eating out or meeting up with friends, being able to choose our social freedoms; all removed from our control. In real terms we can find ourselves in an all-consuming bubble of mind-noise, stress, worry, fear and, a lack of control. For now, though it’s the new norm, but things will get better. But it will pass…
Back in the 80’s the US military coined a term, VUCA – Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous; it’s use was to define the multilateral World post-Cold War, and this term seems perfectly befitting the World we are living in right now. VUCA is, today, the reality of our day to day lives, for now. Undoubtedly you are feeling a whole range of mixed emotions, and over recent weeks those emotions have matured and developed, likely even changed, as your outlook on this situation too has changed. Perhaps they even change daily still, multiple times a day…. For many the overriding emotions in situations such as this (unprecedented though this specific crisis is) are fear and frustration. Emotions which can be controlling and debilitating both physically and mentally. But it will pass…
“That’s all very well……” you say, “but, how do I get past it, how do I stay motivated and support those around me…? It’s easy for you, you’re well used to pushing yourself and working through fear….” I may be used to it. I certainly have experience of it. And I have learned how to manage and work with those emotions, but it’s not easy, it’s an ongoing battle, not every blow or glance has gone in my favour, but I get up, continue and learn. Using my experience however, and the lessons learned and shared with others, there are things you too can do, that will help you focus and develop a more resilient mindset and outlook during this time. Let’s look at them.
First, give it a name; VUCA. VUCA is the state in which we are living now, know that and be at peace with that knowing what it means and that it won’t be forever. It helps to frame your circumstances. Once you can describe your situation, the circumstances you’re in and its understood, it becomes less scary. Less scary is good. Less scary means its real, and if its real, you can control and dominate how you feel about it.
Secondly, control your information input. Miss-information. Bull sh#t. Fake news. Propaganda. Karren from Facebook. Real facts. All of these conflict and confuse. I’m not suggesting a complete media or news lock-out on your social media or television, but understand and acknowledge that a lot if not most of what you will see, hear and read will be B/S. Don’t let the melee of news noise and opinion cloud your fact and information sources, have a critical and open mind and act based on the sensible and tangible facts, what is asked and expected of you. The rest? At best it’s unnecessary noise. At worst, it will chip away and plant decay in your mindset.
Thirdly, prioritize and focus on the things you can control. Acknowledge and accept, you can’t control (in this situation) everything;
When this will end
Predict what will happen
The actions or response of others
You can, focus on, and control the following though;
Your mindset
How you interact and care for others
How you respond to the required guidelines and rules
Your own hygiene precautions
Each day do something for your mind, and for your body
Limiting news and information sources
Minimizing use of social media
You’ll notice that the number of things you can control far outweigh that which you cannot, they’re also far more tangible, thus with a little conscious practice, can be done with relative ease, but have a big positive impact on you.
Fourth, visualize the journey. Think about every route and path on the journey. What will happen f? How will I feel or respond when? If this happens today ho will it change what tomorrow looks like?
Lastly, get feral with your thoughts. By feral I mean, focus on the core tasks, the really important things. Eliminate anything else. Much like in point three above, those you can control and that which have an intimate necessary involvement in completing your goal will shape your outcome and success – everything else, put it in a box, lock it, launch it and crack on….
There’s no exact sciences in this. There’s no single solution. No magic wand, immediate answer. No one-size fits all. No complex methodology. Although I’m sure there will be influences and trainers out there with their own “expert” opinion. The five points above, although tailored or focused to the crisis situation we find ourselves in today, represent the 5-step process that I, and others with my background, use to push through and focus on achieving an end goal in challenging times; its simple, its malleable, its effective. It’s measured. It works under the most extreme situation. You just have to commit. Because? This too will pass…
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