How Will You Emerge

When We Return to “Normal”?

We are officially into our eighth week of self-isolation. For some, it’s been a gruelling process and for others it has been a piece of cake. I personally like to look at it as an opportunity to self-reflect, self-improve, or even just indulge and take advantage of all of the free time you have. But no matter how we look at it I think we can all agree on one thing… we can not wait to return to some level “normal”.

But how will you emerge from this?

I have been asking myself this very question, and since I typically live a very hectic lifestyle with running around, training, working, relationships, competitions, and so on… I have taken the time to see what habits I had before and how things have changed. Here are a few examples of my observations:

  • Daily Spending has been happening far less often. Before the pandemic my biggest culprit has been coffee and eating on the run. Since I have had nowhere to go on a daily basis, I have not stopped for coffee as often. Will this change? So long as I continue to remind myself how much I have saved not eating out and the healthier I feel avoiding refined take-out food, this is something I can continue to do. The trick? Reinforce the positive outcome and remember what your future self wants; to be healthier and less poor!

  • Decompressing and finding time to do what I have wanted to catch-up on. This is something I rarely have had time to do because I feel like I need to constantly go; that’s because my job requires it 99% of the time. Reading is something I love to do and I’ve nearly completed four books during these eight weeks. I’m also learning more by completing online courses I have put on the back burner.

  • Quality time spent with my partner. While I tend to work in the evenings, he works during the day. It makes it hard to spend a lot of time together. So it’s given us the opportunity to regain focus on our goals together and where we want to go in the future. I’m sure a few of you have done the same thing!

These are just a couple of the observations I have made and I am hoping that it will allow me to emerge from this self-isolation with a different perspective and a new focus. I’m also hoping it will have given everyone else the chance to rethink the world and how they will evolve with the ever changing events happening to us each day.

OH! And these weren’t just any random thoughts floating around in my head. Here are just a couple of books I have been reading over to get through this crisis:

  1. Creativity Inc.
  2. Atomic Habits
  3. The Power of Habit

They have taught me how to rethink the habits that I make on a daily basis; what’s just a routine and what I would deem as an addiction (i.e. coffee and sweets). They have also shown me how to take advantage of the situation we are in and turn it into an opportunity because we can not always control what the world throws at us, so we need to be prepared and think creatively!

I highly recommend adding those three books to your reading list or even download them for free as audio books through Amazon. I hope they have the same impact on you as they did me, or maybe you will learn something new and we can chat about it online.

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