Is it time to reboot your life? To reinvent yourself? On the surface this might seem like a crazy idea and you are probably thinking that you’ve got enough going on without taking on another project. There is a lot going on I agree; but since many of us are spending more time at home this might be the perfect time to re-evaluate our lives.
No-one knows what life will be like post-COVID but one thing for certain is there will be a lot of opportunities. In order to make the most of these opportunities we need a road map to help us understand and make the most of change.
In 1991 psychologist and author William Bridges, created a model for understanding change that we can use to make sense of the changes that threaten to engulf us today.
Bridges made an important observation about the difference between change and transition:
Change is what is happening externally. In the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic we have seen changes in how many of us work (or don’t work if we have lost our jobs), changes in how we socialize with others, changes in how we learn especially if we are going to school, and changes in how we do simple tasks like grocery shopping, getting a haircut, or going to the dentist. The number and severity of the changes that impact our lives is overwhelming.
Bridges described the second part of the change process as the transition. This is the psychological process we go through in order to come to terms with external changes. Change is external, transition is internal. We may not have much control over our external circumstances but we can control how we cope with what is happening.
We can take a wait and see attitude or we can look at this challenging time as an opportunity to make some positive changes in our lives. You’re probably thinking, “Not more change!” Although this may seem counterintuitive, COVID19 has given us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves.
In order to do this William Bridges suggests that we start by finding answers to the following three questions:
- What’s changing?
- What will be different because of the change?
- What will I lose (or gain)?
During times of crisis it seems as if everything is changing and most of it is out of our control.
But not everything is out of our control. Take a minute and make a list of the things that you do have control over. My list includes spending time every day writing, exercising (although now I can’t go to the gym), planning and cooking healthy meals, connecting with family and friends, doing housework and gardening. You may have young children or elderly parents to look after or a job to go to even if you are working at home.
Keeping focused on the things that remain the same will provide you with an anchor during these unprecedented times. Creating some structure in our days is one way to cope and is recommended by astronaut Chris Hadfield, psychotherapist Esther Perel and others.
We are now faced with unimaginable changes being forced upon us. Writing in Fast Company this week authors Parag Khanna and Karan Khemka describe the corona virus as being like an earthquake, with aftershocks that will permanently reshape the world.”
This is a terrifying thought and one that is causing many of us, including me, to feel anxious and stressed about our futures
No-one knows what the world will look like but we are certainly being given the opportunity to reinvent the future for ourselves and for the world as a whole.
In the next post I’ll share more of William Bridges model and explore the role of creativity in helping us to reinvent ourselves during times of nonstop change.
Be kind, be calm and stay safe!
Lesley
