Have you had this experience? You leave the warm and familiar comfort of your home office to attend a conference. You find yourself inspired and transported- and come back, feeling changed afterwards?
Me too.
There are not many events that bring this out in me, but when it happens, it’s so good.
The challenge with this, though, is you feel different, but your life and work may not seem different. You might find yourself, as I do, feeling kind of unclear, ungrounded, and just having trouble setting back in to your usual routine.
The idea of “new normal” is that we are all changed by meaningful experiences, and we need to find a new equilibrium point that is different from where we were before- the new normal.
If your mind has been expanded by something, and your perspective has shifted, you can’t too easily go back to where you were before. Yet, many of us try to fit into our old routines and patterns, sometimes out of habit, but mostly out of discomfort.
It is very strange to feel unmoored from your old patterns and habits and ways of doing things.
So here are a few strategies for stepping in to a new normal:
1) Rest. A lot. I find that the more I rest, the faster things come together and making more sense to me. This is not how I usually do things- I’m usually back to work the next day, both feet and whole body in. So taking some time out after an inspiring event and spending time with my ideas and thoughts has been very helpful.
2) Plan for irritability and crankiness. As I shared in my speaking presentations, we can’t learn anything new without connecting it to something we already know. And then, sometimes, we can leap past what we already know to see things in a new way. This kind of growth often shows up as irritability and crankiness. This is why step #1 – more rest- is crucial.
3) Give new opportunities time to unfold. It can be tempting to rush home and try to implement everything you just heard about or just learned. But what I suggest, instead? Write down your juiciest ideas and then allow them to settle for a few days. Once the time has passed, start moving on the ones you still feel most energized by.
If asked, most of us would say we want more results in our business- whether that be more money, more opportunities, or a greater feeling of satisfaction. We can step more easily into these new business frameworks when we allow ourselves space and time to find a new normal.
