Dare I list some of the pandemic challenges we have faced this past year? Let’s do a quick recap and quickly move on: The worry of our health and the health of our family, the struggles of trying to work remotely, the challenges of home schooling our children, the economic uncertainty, the loss of control and the social isolation, and so on and so on.

It’s hard to see any good come out of something like this, but let’s do it anyway and see where it takes us. Some could argue that there is just as much good happening around us. However, it’s more difficult to identify and it’s not as obvious. It’s critical (for our spiritual and mental well-being) to reflect on the positive take away(s) and to recognize how important the power of interpretation and perception is for a ‘cup half full’ attitude.

Strength of the human spirit

Take a moment to acknowledge your superpowers: Could you have ever imagined working from home while home-schooling your children with a TP shortage in a lockdown with social distancing?! Not in our wildest dreams! And yet here we are coping and getting through this but even more than that: We are supporting each other, helping each other. It’s no longer considered mortifying if our children unexpectedly run past us yelling and laughing during our Zoom call. We are letting Senior Citizens with a handful of items in front of us at stores when we’re in a mad rush with a full cart. Let’s take this opportunity to sympathize and shine. Pat yourself on the back for this (seriously, do it).

Interpretation

Ask yourself “What’s a better meaning that I can give to situation X? How do you react to someone who cuts you off while driving or is tailgating you? Does it bother you? Of course it does. What if instead of getting angry and losing our cool we instead just shrug it off and say to ourselves, “They must be in a hurry over something that’s hopefully not too serious” or “I would hate to feel that rushed.” The key here is to CHANGE YOUR THINKING – You don’t need the extra stress and one bad driver on the road is better than two bad drivers. It takes time and more mental awareness to start doing this, but it’s worth it.

Perceiving the Succeeding

My 5-year-old son yells out “I can’t do this!” My response is “You’re right, you can’t”. He looks at me and then does that thing he says he can’t do and says to me “I can do this!” My response is “You’re right, you can!” This is true at any age. Start the day out with “I can” and give yourself that chance to succeed otherwise you’re defeated before you even start. Another tip: If you want to accomplish something, act like you’ve already accomplished it before. Successful visualization is everything.

Helping not Hoarding

Whether at home or at work or at home working, we are sharing our innovative ideas and creativity with our networks and accomplishing things (together) like never before. We have created social platforms and posted on social media what is working for us and making us better. Continue to share your new ideas that are working for you and help us all to get through this a little more easily as a team.

Explore lessons learned

Not all of our efforts and attempts are going to be successful. It’s okay to bring this to light too. I gave up on perfection a long time ago. “Doing our best” is all you can do. Share it, say it, practice it. Let’s also learn from our mistakes. Making mistakes is one step closer to getting it right the next time and eliminating what doesn’t work.

Agile Human Resources

I’d be remiss if I didn’t dedicate a section for our HR professionals here. We have been tested like never before: Pandemic Preparedness and Illness, New Health & Safety Policies, Financial Strain, Employee Layoffs/Pay cuts and Business closures, Employees mental health and wellness…to name a few.

And what resulted? We excelled in Communicating, Empathy & Trust, Retaining Talent and Business Relationships, Coaching, Guiding, Mentoring!

Continue to be confident, choose to shine, be humble, learn from mistakes, support each other but above all else the most important take away is: No matter what life brings you can handle it!

Stay well everyone.