Let’s Be Purposeful About the New Normal

Governments won’t create the “new normal” following the pandemic – people will. I will and you will. I hope to do this with purpose. So, I am reflecting on the “old normal,” what we are doing in isolation, and what the new normal should be for me. I am making three lists – things I want to stop doing, things I want to continue doing, and things I want to do, but altered in some way.

I’m going to share items from my lists as they develop – and I invite you to share your ideas for “stop, continue, alter” as we form the new normal. Share them as a comment and we all can collectively get ideas and adopt what works.

Here are items to start the dialogue. I’m going to:

STOP – Trying to maintain relationships that are only skin deep. The pandemic has opened my eyes to who really matters to me. Those I am inspired to reach out to, and people who have reached out asking how I am doing are the people with which I want to have relationships. Following my Mother’s death at the hands of COVID19 earlier this month, the people who reached out to me, and how they did so was very revealing and moving for me.

CONTINUE – Scheduling video chats to keep in touch. These have brought my family and friends together in a substantial way, and I don’t want to lose that connection.

ALTER – I want to leverage virtual tools more often, to save on commuting, and contribute to reducing my carbon footprint. I will continue to meet face to face to establish and build relationships, especially in a business context, but once in place, there are many instances where virtual tools will work quite well.