Lessons From the Pandemic: Part 3 Finding Adventure

Time to read: 56 seconds

If you go to Thailand, the Reclining Buddha really is worth a visit.

A client of mine just returned from a wonderful vacation with his family. He made a comment about the contrast between the spontaneous surprises of vacations and the grind of daily living.

One of my core values is adventure and although I love a good international trip, it doesn’t take a grand gesture or money to find adventure. Adventure is a state of mind.

Consider this example:

Years ago, after 4 months of traveling, my husband and I made our final stop in Thailand. I remember sitting in a hostel in Bangkok asking:

Should we visit the royal palace?

Nah.

How about the famous Reclining Buddha?

Nah.

Truth is, we were done. Even incredible sites lose their sparkle when they become every day. We spent our final days in Thailand sitting idle on the beach and eating.

During lockdown, I walked one of 4 directions from my house every day. Some days I walked the alley. Sometimes the sidewalks. As part of my “keep Christina sane plan,” I decided these walks would be an adventure. I acted as if I had never seen these streets before. Birds became exotic. My neighbors grow incredible gardens. People discarded amazing stuff. Little Free Libraries were a bastion of discovery.

Now that travel is back on the menu, the grand adventure has returned. (Yay travel!) And, the pandemic revealed that daily living can be an adventure if you look at the familiar with new eyes. Expect surprises. Open to wonder. Marvel at life.

Here’s to a summer of adventures!

Want to chat about hosting our 90-minute Return to the Office interactive event for your team? Email me here to get more information.

Returning To the Office?

Time to read: 30 seconds.

Many of my clients are returning to the office in some form in the fall. They have mixed feelings. Some are excited. Some are not.

When you’re staring down big, complicated, changes, please know that you don’t have to boil the entire ocean. Instead:

Start anywhere.

And start with just one thing.

You only have to do one thing at a time. Then you’ll do the next thing. And the next. Until the train is back on the track and you’re moving forward smoothly.

That’s it.

Anne and I have been leading a 90-minute live event for corporate teams to help them prepare to return to in-person work effectively and smoothly. If your team is having feelings about returning to the office, we can help.

In the words of a recent participant:

"This workshop helped me prepare to return with intention rather than simply winging it.”

You have important work to do. We will help you be ready.

Email me here if you'd like more information about hosting this workshop for your team.

Summer of Rest, Recovery and Integration

Time to read: 30 seconds.

My fair city at sunset

Hey Rebels!

This is the summer of rest and recovery. Clients are quitting and changing jobs, heading back to the office, moving and experiencing all sorts of change. People are enjoying Fridays off, road tripping, and requesting that we space our sessions out a bit so they can integrate.

Integration. That's an important concept. I use it with clients to mean the time you give yourself to let things sink in. When you've been diving deep on your personal and professional development, sometimes you have to pause to let your learning absorb into your bones.

When you've lived through a global pandemic, political turmoil and social upheaval, you need a little time to integrate. When you give yourself space to integrate, you see what sinks in and sticks over time and set the stage to move forward again.

So, I am going to give you a few weeks of short, easy to digest content to aid your rest, recovery and integration. Today's is simply - consider the idea of integration. What does it mean for you? What do you want to integrate?

Then watch the next few weeks for tips and ideas for rest, recovery and integration.

The free download of The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work) is still available. It's chock full of info for you and your team. Many people have shared this playbook with their bosses (including my husband). If you love it, please share it.

You Don't Need "Pandemic Permission"

Time to read: 1.36 minutes

During a recent group workshop, a leader worried about all the things she'll feel obligated to do as things open up. She observed, "the pandemic gave me a good excuse to say no to lots of things."

Try on a few examples:

• You could say no to online cocktails with that group of friends, because you were "all Zoomed out."
• You could decide not to attend the expensive and far-away family vacation you don't enjoy much anyway because you're "not ready to travel yet."
• You could skip the online after hours work happy hour, because your kids "need help with online school."
• You could have a holiday with just your family because "it didn't feel safe yet" to host other people.

Of course, safety and exhaustion were real. And, if you make an honest assessment, you made time for the people and activities you care about the most. You just didn't make space for all the people and activities you did pre-pandemic.

Here's the truth: You don't need the cover of the pandemic to say no to those friends or that vacation or after hours happy hour. You can simply say no.

I recommended to the leader that she consider giving up obligation as a pandemic gift to herself.

Of course, you sometimes have to visit people you don't want to visit and do things you don't want to do. Instead of dragging yourself through those things with resentment and resistance, anchor yourself to your values (like love, connection, family) and keep those in mind as you delight in coffee with a boring relative.

And, be honest with yourself. If you avoided it or them during the pandemic and those activities and relationships don't nourish you now, let them go.

Drop obligation. Obligation is sooo 2019.

Making decisions about how to smoothly and effectively return to life and work is daunting. Make the process easier by downloading your free copy of The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work).

I hope this helps.