Over the last ten months, I’ve had many, many discussions and listened to a host of people talking about their lives and their feelings as they tried to make sense of the big changes we were facing and what often felt like chaos.
As we gallop (or limp) to the finishing line of 2020 and with just a week until we welcome in the New Year (!) here’s just a few of the themes I’ve heard on repeat. I’m intrigued to see how these develop during 2021...
Re-evaluation
The upheaval that we’ve all experienced in 2020 has led to some really different thinking. I’ve heard the phrases ‘wake-up call’ and ‘reprioritising’ on repeat this year. I’ve heard people ask, “If not now, then when?”
Some of us are not in a position to proactively make big shifts and, to an extent, have to respond to what’s happening around us. But it seems that many of those who can do something to effect positive change, are doing so. This can only be a good thing.
Refocus
This year has been full of big change and with it, loss for many of us. Not just loss of people from our lives, but of a way of life – of what we knew as normal – and our routines.
As we see recession taking hold next year in many sectors in the UK, the first experience of a severe downturn for many, there will be a constant refocus and need for support as we all try to readjust and keep going. Compassion and kindness will, once again, be key.
Rebalance
I’ve heard people say that this situation has brought out the best in many and the worst in some. Others have mentioned that things have been completely out of kilter - feeling pressured by having to do more with less while others have been twiddling their thumbs.
What has become clear is an appreciation of what people have said they’d lost sight of – time with family, nature and really making the most of what they do have. It feels like there has been a lot of good, along with the bad of this year.
Shift
So much change has been accelerated in 2020. Who’d have thought back in January that Zoom would become a verb and we’d never leave the house without a mask in our pockets? To be honest, I’m still finding it odd watching TV shows with audiences sitting next to one another.
There have been changes in business, the way we live, the way we work and how we interact. Some of us have embraced this and others have gone with it because we have to, but we’ve managed it, albeit in a relatively short time.
We are remarkably resilient creatures, but however resilient we think we might be, having a break to recharge and refocus can make a big difference, especially in the face of big changes.
So, if you have time, however brief that might be, to reflect on what you might be taking forward to 2021, it might just be worth it.
Wishing you a peaceful holiday and best wishes for a more promising 2021. See you on the other side.
If it would help to have an outside view on your thoughts and planning for 2021 or you’d like to work through your own approach to your wellbeing and resilience in big change, I’d love to chat