My first step to get on the path of maintaining an optimistic and grounded, I had to accept where I was and adapt as best I could with what I knew. It took some serious humble pie to put aside my ego along with the loss of business and delayed events to then realize what matters most is being the “safe keeper” of my family to stay out of harm's way of COVID-19.
As one who likes to have her life under control, I finally came to, “What do I have control over? What can I do?” In times where there is not any control, I decided to develop a game plan which seemed to give me back a little control. We as a family live and love our typical routines as it is a place of comfort. It also seemed to “normalize” the uncertainty of our situation.
As I was settling in my new role and finding solace there I realized it was taking a lot of creativity and juggling to be effective with client calls, webinars and planning to transition from a National Speaker to distance learning coordinator and educator for a party of one, my son Anthony. To move from Performance Coach to Homebase manager and meal maker. I also found it was necessary to adapt and be aware of the needs of my clients and industry. I shifted to communicate and motivate via online platforms and realize that this is my “stage” now and the entire point is to motivate and educate. So the method and manner should not matter.
Early on, I understood that teamwork between my husband and I was going to be essential. Seeing the future of a lot of “togetherness” and quality time will continue, I laid out the plan that we need to get our family to thrive during this time and not be miserable. I have to admit I am not perfectly optimistic and the ideal mom 100% of the time and that is ok. I give myself permission to not be perfect and give myself a pass as I know I am doing my absolute best. Specifically concerning Anthony’s distant learning efforts. Even as much as I try I know I am not going to replace Anthony's full school day and his amazing teacher. I shifted my energy to keep him engaged in learning and eager to discover more building confidence in reading, math etc. The overall goal was now for him to be able to show his know-how when he returns to school and feel ready.
So with the ability to adapt and accept our current situation allowed me mentally and emotionally shift to thrive.
