You know that expression: "It goes without saying"?
Well I am not sure that works on the Internet.
So I want be sure I say: "Thank you. Thank you to the nurses and doctors who are making tough decisions and still waiting for PPE. Thank you to the people who are limiting interaction with their families, just in case. Thank you to the people who continue to work in warehouses and deliver packages. Thank you to the people who are staffing our grocery stores. Thank you to the people keeping our world turning."
And also: "I am sorry. I am sorry that this was the year you went for it and signed a lease on that retail space. I am sorry that you just had to lay off your team. I am sorry that you just lost your job. I am sorry your partner's return home from deployment has just been pushed back. I am sorry that you or a loved one are sick. I am sorry that the world is now turning upside down."
For some, maybe the folks I listed above, this is it. This is the defining moment of your lives. The goal right now is to keep going and the rest of us are so grateful that you are.
For many of us though, this is a crazy thing that, if we stay lucky, is happening right next door. Our jobs look different. Our plans are cancelled. Our calendar now features shaky handwriting that reads..."homeschool?" for the next ten weeks. But, right now, some of us still have the absurd luxury of being safe and bored. What do we do with that?
First, here are three free and concrete things you can do, aside from staying home:
- if you are able, donate blood
- check in with your neighbors –– can you split a grocery delivery? do you have toilet paper to share? is there anything you can do to help?
- if you are in the US, call your Reps and ask them to make vote by mail standard nationwide in time for the general election (AND/OR ask them for action on the other 100 things you are concerned about right now)
And second, I would argue that now –– yes, the end of this crazy quarter –– is a good time to check-in on your 2020 goals. YES! Those goals. The ones you set when you were excited and hopeful and I had just asked you to think about how you wanted to feel this next year. (I assume most of you didn't write terrified to leave the house?)
Here is why this is important: Future You needs you to cut yourself some slack.
You need to look at that list and ask yourself: What can you still do now? What can you maybe work on next fall? And, most importantly, what can you make a choice to let go of?
It's scary to look back on our own goals from three months ago. It's rough to let our Past Selves down. We didn't get it done! We didn't even start! A pandemic arrived! That...sucks. And also...it's okay.
Right now, at the beginning of April 2020, you get to confront the disappointment and do an important goal check-in. You get to reassess. You get to adjust. You get shrink some of your goals. You get cross some out furiously with a Sharpie. If it helps, you can even burn the paper you wrote them on.
And then, maybe tomorrow, maybe a week or a month from now, you get to set some new goals. You get to take the information you currently have and you get to ask yourself again: "How do I want to feel this next month? What can I do that might help me get there?" You get to pick up your pencil and jot that stuff down. The more concrete and inspiring a goal feels to you right now –– in this new reality –– the better.
A goal check-in has never been about pinning medals on your chest or finding a spot on your wall for your framed awards. Nope! A goal check-in is about taking an honest look in the mirror and saying "Hi. I see you. Let's figure out where we are today and then decide what might work better tomorrow. Let's pick some new small action items that work for right now. Let's take a breath (as long as you need) and then, let's dive back in."
