While in the midst of a pandemic, it’s easy to feel stuck.
Maybe you’re not feeling depressed, but you’re not quite at a hundred percent, either.
A term for it that is floating around the media nowadays is “languishing”, which suggests inhabiting a space somewhere between depression and thriving.
You might experience it as a lack of focus, or “brain cloud”, or just a sense of feeling unmotivated or “meh”.
It’s been suggested that this is where most of us enduring the pandemic are: neither here nor there, just… languishing.
Even though it might not sound as insidious as full-blown depression, languishing is still quite harmful, and can take a toll.
It can beat down your resilience.
So, how do we fight back and strengthen our resilience during a pandemic?
One of the things about being resilient is making sure that we take the setbacks, challenges, and the difficulties we are currently facing, and keep them in perspective.
So, a concept I’ve been focusing on during my resilience training sessions with corporate clients is the idea of “playing the long game”.
Playing the long game requires you to zoom out and see the big picture.
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon” – that’s what playing the long game is all about.
In terms of the pandemic, playing the long game dares you to ask the question, “What’s next?”
As in, what’s in store for you after the lockdowns are over, and everyone is vaccinated, and businesses are open once again?
What does the next chapter look like to you?
And when you start thinking about what is coming up next, you will automatically start to see what it is you have to do now, in the present.
Your focus and motivation will return to you in the present because you have something to shoot for in the future.
When you’re playing the long game, you understand that you’re not going to win this inning, or this quarter (I like sports analogies, can you tell?), and you ALSO understand that what you are doing right now will win you the long game.
When the opponent scores on us, we have a chance to reset and restart. We have a chance to come back.
Even when there’s a setback and the hill up to winning the game becomes a little steeper, we always have a chance to restart.
Lose the battle, win the war.
So, think about it – what version of yourself would you like to see in a few months time?
We’ve been enduring this period of languishing and pandemic life for over a year now, what have you learned about yourself?
What would you like to focus on, moving forward?
What do you want to get better at, or do more of because you enjoy it?
What connections with friends and family have stood out to you?
How do you want to build your life?
What do you want to do with your career?
What would you like to do with your travel plans, hobbies, activities, and finances?
There’s a whole list of things, I’m sure that you’ve thought of over the last 12 or 13 months, where you’ve had some awakening and said:
“When this is over, this is going to change.”
These are the big picture ideas you’ll want to focus on, because maintaining and strengthening one’s resilience is about the long game.
To help you figure out “what’s next”, we are offering a free webinar.
This is a coaching session I offer my existing clients, and it is designed to help you figure out your next moves.
What do you want to focus in on right now? What do the next six months look like for you? What do the next 12 months look like?
It’s a lot like planning a vacation.
Even if you’re unable to travel any time soon, planning a vacation can be as fun – or maybe even more fun – than the vacation itself.
So, get into a planning mode and start deciding what your big restart is going to look like. You can create the life you want.
Email me for more information about the “What’s Next?” webinar randall@solutiondevelopmentgroup.com or click here.
See you soon.
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