It goes without saying that the year 2020 has tested our collective mettle - as individuals, small communities, and greater society at large. Many of us are wondering what we can do to strengthen our character and our resolve in order to get through whatever may be next. A few months back we linked to an article on how to stay optimistic in a time of crisis. The gist of it: Allow yourself to feel your feelings. All of them. Without judgement or rumination. Feeling your feelings, along with a daily gratitude practice have turned out to be two key factors allow us to rise above the fray and continue on. Recently, another trait has been linked to resiliency: the experience of hardship and suffering. Harvard Business Review has published a piece by Marcus Buckingham looking at what really allows us to rise above to adversity. Mr. Buckingham’s study connected the quality of resiliency to the experience of previous hardship more than any other individual experience. It turns out, what inspires fear is simply the unknowns. Once we are facing our troubles and can take stock of obstacles to overcome, that’s when our true strength comes out. Take a few moments to read Mr. Buckingham’s research, and see if you can’t identify with some of the experiences he describes.
Our Own "Hail Mary"
In most of our favorite, guilty-pleasure disaster movies, each hero has a “Hail Mary” moment in which he or she makes a daring breakthrough that saves the day. In real life, and especially during this pandemic, we must take comfort in all of us making small changes that will lead to an ultimate victory. It is natural to find hope in news (or rumors) of medical breakthroughs (Remdesivir, the Oxford or Moderna Vaccine projects which hold promise, and false alarms like hydroxychloroquine). But, real advancements take time and are hard to predict. The belief that our own “Hail Mary” moment is imminent can seduce us into letting our guard down.
As many states start to re-open, a recent short HBR Blog post warns the “all-or-nothing approach…. makes for great theater. It does not, however, bear much resemblance to how actual big problems are solved… Big problems typically get tackled through a series of small solutions, each of which on its own may not seem particularly important, but that together can have a huge impact.”
A wise executive once said that “good management is consistent pressure, relentlessly applied”. Take a minute to reflect on why “we shouldn’t wait for a breakthrough in the Covid-19 Pandemic”, and what we should do in the meantime to help assure one.