Like many, I have found myself with some free time while working from home and social distancing. I decided to use this time to invest in myself both personally and professionally.
In order to better serve my clients, I looked to different coaching resources including the professional organizations I belong to get additional training and support. I was very pleasantly surprised to learn how quickly the coaching community banded together to create resources to support each other. I have taken several webinars and what I have learned from each one is that coaches are needed now more than ever.
The Coronavirus is transforming how we live and work. While we used to be able to separate our life at work from our life at home, working from home has caused us to blur the lines. We may be on a call with our colleague/manager/supervisor, when our kid comes running hyper into our new home office. This now has to be accepted. We need to make contingency plans if one of our employees gets sick and is out for weeks or months.
Together, we are all navigating this new way of life. Our society is not used to working like this and it is causing a lot of stress and anxiety.
In one of the webinars, I learned a new word. If you know me, you know that I have a passion for learning and I love big SAT-type words. I was so excited when I had the opportunity to learn this new word…which is Equanimity.
Dictionary.com defines Equanimity as the mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.
I honestly cannot think of a better time for this word to enter my vocabulary, and believe me, it has entered my vocabulary. Most of us struggle with equanimity on our best day, but during these unprecedented times, we are struggling even more.
Here are some tips I would like to offer to help you find Equanimity.
- Develop a new routine that can take the place of the one you previously had, and if you’ve never had a routine before, come up with one now.
- Take a few minutes for yourself and take an inventory of everything you are grateful for, such as: waking up in the morning, having a roof over your head, having food in your refrigerator, having a family who loves and supports you.
- Take a few minutes before you begin your day and meditate to clear your head.
- Pray to your chosen higher power.
- Listen to some calming music. (For me, Fleetwood Mac works best)
- In the morning, make a list of what you want to accomplish during the day. If you complete every task, that’s great. If you don’t, no big deal. The world isn’t going to end. Really. It isn’t going to end.
- Designate an object to touch when you are feeling stressed, so that when you touch it, it reminds you to take a moment and calm down. (I have a small buddha figurine on my desk that serves this purpose)
- Journal your thoughts and experiences.
- Turn up your favorite song to the highest volume and have a solo dance party.
I make an effort every day to find my Equanimity. What do you do? I challenge you to find your Equanimity. The hard truth is our collective reality has changed forever. We can handle it by being stressed and overwhelmed, or we can face these challenging times with…Equanimity. Either way, we have to face these times and get through them.
The choice is do we handle them with an anxious mindset or a positive mindset? I’m choosing positive. What about you?
Let me know how you find your Equanimity.
