Mining for Gold

As strange as it might seem, Covid-19 came with a remarkable set of gifts.  Perhaps now is the time to think about them.  How has the pandemic impacted your life?  For me, when Covid hit, I found myself in a state of fear.  I didn’t know if my business would take a dive or if my clients would retreat.  Most of us were thrown out of our normal day-to-day routine.

We had to think differently about the way we approached work and life and we sure felt differently.  Fear around supply shortages and things like mask wearing and vaccinations surfaced.  We were forced to take alternative actions to make sure we would survive.  Systemically, we had to create new Emotional DNA to adapt to a changing world.  One new thought, feeling and action at a time. 

It felt like a marathon and many of us lost people we loved along the way and had to adjust to those losses as well.  At stages it felt overwhelming and at times it still does.  However, it is good to acknowledge that we have, without a doubt, created new skills sets and strengths as well as some behaviors that won’t serve us well in the long run.  They all begin with our Emotional DNA. 

I was scared that if I didn’t adapt, I would lose everything that I had built, just like my father and grandfather.  I told myself it was time to do things differently.  I learned more about technology than I ever wanted to, and I must confess, I’m grateful I did.  But I also stopped exercising on a regular basis because I was simply too busy on Zoom and focused on survival.  So, I told myself it was more important to avoid what had happened to my predecessors than to be fit. 

When I took the time to think about my Emotional DNA, I found myself realizing that change wasn’t as scary as I had imagined.  That allowed me to feel a lot safer and take actions I might not have taken before.  I could choose to see the gifts in my newly created Emotional DNA and realized that I could grow my business happily while maintaining my fitness.

This leads me to the questions that I have for you – What parts of your newly created Emotional DNA do you want to hold on to?  What do you want to leave behind? 

Please let me know what new Emotional DNA you have grown over the past 18 months.  What are you choosing to take with you and what you will leave behind?