From a health crisis, through a stock market crash, to a near freeze in the economy, the current situation has turned everyone's priorities upside down after a few weeks. Confined for health reasons, our professional, personal and social habits are being disrupted. Some of us live this upheaval by resisting and trying to find reasons, culprits, and conspiracy theories to justify what is happening. Others are searching for meaning, significance and spirituality around all the evils that have befallen humanity in one fell swoop. Despite the divergence of opinions and recommendations on this crisis, there is an agreement that there are some kind of opportunities behind what’s going on. In my view, one major opportunity is to understand that what matters in this situation is not only the way out, but also your attitude every day as you cross your path till the of the nightmare. Understanding (and acting on) your character traits Your attitude in an extreme crisis situation reflects, in a fairly transparent way, who you really are: your reflexes and beliefs that emerge spontaneously without a rational mask. It is indeed an opportunity to better know yourself and to make sure that you use this knowledge to reinforce your strengths and understand to what extent your weaknesses are hindrances. This applies to you from an introspective perspective but also to your analysis of the behaviour of those around you. Just notice and contemplate the details and you will learn more subtleties about them. Moreover, it is the difficult situations that also allow those around you to get to know your personality in depth. The management of your attitude during this period is also important: understanding yes, but acting is better. Amplified attributes in crisis situations can destroy your relationships and some of your interactions (Example: Increase in the divorce rate in China following the national confinement that lasted a few weeks - According to an article in the Daily Mail dated March 13, 2020). Reinforce interactions with your loved ones As you go through this period, you have to recognize that this situation offers you an unprecedented moment to rethink your priorities with regards to your relationship with your loved ones. In the current crisis, we find ourselves in circumstances where we are isolated with them, or relatively close to them. We have a real opportunity to listen to each other and to the needs of those who matter to us. When the number of distractions is limited, we have more attention to give to our loved ones and to (re)connect with them. It is also an opportunity to get rid of our professional distortions that damage the way we manage our intimate relationships: Couples who often talk as if they were in a formal work meeting at the office, parents who manage their homes and talk with their children in "command - control - performance" mode, rewards for children's efforts that are only pecuniary ... We need more human relationships within families built on the creation of meaning, empathy, fulfilment, recognition of merits, authenticity, sensitivity to everyone's expectations. Activate your freedom of thought In confinement, we are deprived of our freedom of movement, but let us remember that we are not deprived of our freedom of reflection. Awareness is important in this sense: we should not censor ourselves because we will miss the essential. We unfortunately, and very often, succumb to the single thought, to the spread of gloom, Example: if you look at the posts that circulate on social networks, the majority are tinted "Corona", crisis, stock market crash ... A partner confides to me "I can't talk about anything else on social networks than this subject, it will be incongruous that I talk about an idea I wanted to launch in the past... it will be misplaced". The majority is in the race for announcements around the crisis. It is not a question of denying the seriousness of the current situation and not showing and demonstrating exceptional solidarity, but it is also necessary to be able to maintain energy around positive ideas and other potential projects you may have. These could take us out of the vicious circle of crisis and the funnel of negative/value-destroying attitudes.
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