How to Be a Champion of Circumstance
If you’ve ever watched barges float on a powerful river, you’ve probably seen one lower its anchor to avoid a bank or a bridge, then raise the anchor to resume its ride over water that’s far more turbulent than it appears on the surface. For boats to sail safely, their captains must know when to anchor and when to relinquish enough control to be moved. In times of uncertainty, our lives are not much different.
Consistency is critical for success, but in the face of rapid change it’s important to learn how to move forward when your environment is anything but consistent. Resisting change can cause you to waste time and resources on priorities that aren’t relevant. and It can also damage your health and relationships in the process. Instead of seeing change as the enemy, see it as an opportunity to flex your resiliency and agility muscles.
Anchor First
In difficult times it’s okay, even necessary, to seek out continuity. We can only begin to move forward when we feel like our feet are on the ground. One of the best ways to find your footing in an uncertain time is to take stock of what hasn’t changed about your life.
A Harvard Business Review study found that leaders have more success in building support for a change among their employees when they combine the change with a vision of continuity. Likewise, to prime yourself to embrace change, you need to remind yourself of the things you still have that shape who you are. Ask yourself if your goals are still the same. If so, figure out how to pursue it in your new environment. If not, you get the opportunity to chart a new course.
Be Mindful of Yourself
A daily dose of meditation and mindfulness can help you focus on the present and accept the changes that you can’t control. A review of twenty-two Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) studies in the journal PLoS One found that the strongest results of MBSR were reduced levels of emotional exhaustion (a dimension of burnout), stress, psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and occupational stress.
Choose your favorite time of day and spend a few minutes thinking about only your body, where you are in this moment, and what floods to your head automatically. Don’t judge your thoughts. Just acknowledge them and let them shape your understanding of yourself in this time.
Revisit Your Time Blocks
Chaotic times are exactly that: chaotic. That said, if you’re living in a prolonged period of uncertainty, you can still figure out how to make the best use of your time. One way to do that is through time blocking—the practice of dedicating specific times throughout the day to complete tasks without distraction.
If your working situation has changed (ex: working in office as opposed to remotely) it can be challenging to set up a bunker that keeps you from being disturbed back in the cubicles. Though sharing space is never a perfect science, it’s important to communicate with your coworkers about the times you need to get things done. With enough practice, you can establish a routine that works for your new reality.
Form a Habit
Everyone forms habits unconsciously, like biting our fingernails or taking the same route to work every day. In times of uncertainty, the habits we form can have impacts on the decisions we make in the future, which is why it’s lucky that we can form conscious habits, too. A good habit can keep us focused in the midst of uncertainty and keep us moving forward through small, daily steps.
Change is inevitable, though sometimes it comes at us faster than we’d like. No matter how much of your world has changed, it’s important not to cling to how things used to be when the past isn’t relevant to your success anymore. Times of uncertainty offer the unique opportunity to rethink what could be possible. If we balance possibilities with focus, we can emerge from uncertain times with more resilience than ever before.
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