This week didn't start well for me, waking up on Monday feeling broken and not really knowing why. A lack of sleep over the last few weeks certainly won't have helped, but there is normally a reason for that happening, with something being on my mind. Thankfully, Tuesday morning I had a session with my coach and through a variety of discussion and questioning (which was often as a simple, but strong challenge of "Really?"), the fog began to clear and I started to understand a bit more what was going on for me.
I realised that I'd not taken the time to step back and re-evaluate (even re-plan) what I intend to do over the next few months, now that many things have changed due to the pandemic. Those changes mainly being restrictions around what you can do (depending on where you are in the world). The end to my time at NBCUniversal, while known for many months, wasn't an ending that sat well with me. I was looking forward to catching up with people over coffee during the last weeks of my time there, as relationships and personal interaction I know is an important part of who I am as a person. Not only not a great ending for someone like me, but the inability to still do that for the foreseeable future is tough to process. Yes, I'm making use of all the various technical methods available to us, but nothing for me replaces a handshake, a hug or the physical presence of being around someone.
Then we have the things I'd planned to do with the spare time I would have once I had finished, whether it be visiting my daughter in Japan and helping her settle in, supporting my youngest through her high school exams, finding a new home for my son and I, or focusing on some personal goals such as working on my golf game and fitness level. Pretty much all of those have had to go on hold in the current climate, or at least that was the perspective I had, which contributed to how I was feeling.
Now the change I've made is in mindset and a need for a revisit of my plans, not the outcome intended, but the way to achieve it. While there's nothing I can do to replace the physical presence I referred to earlier, I can still reach out and connect with people and maintain those relationships ahead of an opportunity to reconnect in person down the line, focusing on the quality of that connection. On a personal level, I talk daily on FaceTime with my daughter in Japan, my youngest had her exams cancelled so am involving her in quizzes with friends and family to test her knowledge and spending time doing things with my son, such as going on long walks and watching movies. My fitness is now in the form of indoor cycling and online pilates, and hopefully soon a return to golf with courses now starting to open.
"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - Anon
Why am I sharing this with you? Well, besides being somewhat therapeutic, it links back to the heading of this article. If you go back and read last weeks post, one of the key messages was 'control what you can control', advice that I give friends and family and use in my coaching of others, but I needed my own coach to remind me to eat my own dog food. Once you make those changes and be comfortable that you have a plan and a way to execute against it, you will start to feel a natural peace in yourself. Like some sort of equilibrium has returned, which won't only benefit one part of your life (in my case the personal things), but permeate across all aspects of your being. But more on that concept in next weeks post.
So I leave you as always with a question;
What isn't feeling comfortable for you right now?
It might have been something you planned to do and can't or feel that there's something getting in your way. How could you reorientate yourself and look for a new approach to achieve the plan, without having to change the outcome itself?
If you have something that is not feeling right or getting in your way and you'd like to talk it through, just reach out.
Stay safe and be well.
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