We are the ones we’ve been waiting for
What will be the new normal? The coronavirus has given us the time and space to reflect and reset for change. This is a time of upheaval and crisis. We need to be intentional to find a new paradigm. What will be the new normal, and how do we find our purpose?
Purpose is not driven it is your vision that pulls you forward to your purpose. Your vision crystallizes when it’s hooked onto your values and builds on your behaviour. The “art of discernment” needs to be practiced because setbacks and your environment will draw you away from goals. Success comes from having the right goals. The mistake we often make is to set fixed goals which gives rise to blunders and tunnel vision.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, we are the change we seek”. – Barack Obama
Barack Obama had a vision to change America which was set back by the ascendancy of Donald Trump. Nelson Mandela had a vision which took over 20 years to crystallize.
Logical Approach Since I take an analytical and structured approach to issues, it took me a long while to realise that a majority make their decisions based on emotion, while we are all subject to the issue of unconscious thinking and bias. The best scientific and technical changes come about through “thinking in patterns” which is an artificial thing because the human brain is still hard wired through the “amygdala “to freeze or take flight.
Mental health Trying not to think negative thoughts doesn’t work. We can’t directly control how we feel but we can in fact change our emotions over time by choosing to change what we can control. You behave your way into good feelings. “Stay in your lane” advocates that you set your areas of influence and understand the barriers that stay fixed and immutable.
After this pandemic scare the change we need will still be at glacial speed, because there will be push back from long-established structure of capitalism. “Conscious capitalism” is still a fuzzy concept because it does not have the long-standing reputation of Keynesian economics. Also Nation states are at different economic and technology stages.
Collaboration is a stepping stone and building a team to actualise change is essential because human nature and systems will always be resistance to change. Building resilience then is required and the capacity has to be there.