Let’s talk about what can’t wait.

Warning: This week’s blog post is pretty COVID-19 specific. You may be following my content these days and wishing I would talk about something else. But frankly, as a coach and a leader, I feel like it would be tone deaf of me to continue to create productivity or leadership content without framing it within the context of our world right now.

In fact, I believe it is important to not undermine or be ignorant of how we are affected right now.

So, what can’t wait?

It’s not productivity or results. It’s actually you. Specifically, how are you taking on your new normal?

I’m not a doctor or an expert. I can’t speak to the statistics of when this pandemic will pass us. But at least where I am writing from in New Jersey, we have at least four more weeks of this lifestyle – likely more.

And what I notice about most people’s responses to this is that they are falling in the flavor of “we just have to sit and wait for normal to return.” As a result of this thinking, we are not taking care of ourselves the way we know we should be.

We eat like middle schoolers.

We bottle up our feelings and frustrations.

We become disconnected from our spirituality.

We take it out on our partners.

I don’t intend to be judgmental by pointing out these things. I point to them as a wake-up call, because continuing these behaviors for the next month will eat at us. This is not sustainable. We need to intentionally define our new normal and how we’re taking care of ourselves.

To define the new, let’s look at some examples.

1. You know that clean eating affects your well-being, but your grocery store isn’t easily accessible and you’re feeling lethargic. It’s time to stop ordering the pizza and frozen food, and look into which local restaurants you can support that have cleaner options. It’s time to invest in that instant pot that can get food ready for you quickly without much effort.

2. Your spiritual connection brings you peace, but you don’t know when you will be allowed in your place of worship again. It’s time to bring the place to you. This could be creating intentional time in the morning and evening or finding online groups that are hosting services.

3. You live with a partner you love, whose habits usually bother you at a level of 2 or 3 at the worst, but this much prolonged time together is amping it up to a 9 or 10. Rather than stuff your feelings away and find the worst time to blow up, it’s time to establish new ways of communicating with each other and re-agree to healthy boundaries and whatever else you both need.

So how are you going to make sure you don’t allow yourself to suffer through the next few weeks? What can you take on right now to define your new normal in a way that supports you, even in uncertain times?

It can’t wait.