There is power in the pause. Do we need to rush back?
pause
noun: a temporary rest or stop.
I have a confession: I’m not ready for this slowdown to end, and I’m nervous about our health and wellbeing if we rush back too soon – not so much because of the virus (although that’s an important factor), but more so because we weren’t living and moving at a healthy pace before. The pause we have all been experiencing has shown us that what we thought was slow living, was perhaps not so slow after all.
I’m conscious that this might sound strange coming from a business consultant – shouldn’t I want the economy and ‘business as usual’ to return so that I, and my clients, have more income?
Yes, the collective slowdown has tested us all – our patience, our resilience, our ability to sit still, and surrender to what is out of our control. But nearly everyone I’ve spoken to, seems happier right now. I think Jesse Kamm was right when she posed this big ‘what if’ back in September 2019: “What if we all worked fifty percent less? We’d use fifty percent less resources. We’d have fifty percent more time on our hands. Maybe we would be fifty percent happier.”
I wonder how many of us business owners and sole traders would’ve ever paused and reassessed what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, unless something like this had happened? Maybe we never would’ve slowed down?
While I know this is far from over, and our experience of the pandemic in the Northern Rivers and Australia has been far less devastating than elsewhere, I am choosing to see the silver lining. For one rare moment in time, we’re truly looking at what’s essential in our businesses and lives. We’re reprioritising how we spend our time and money, focusing on connecting with our community and re-evaluating our needs.
To see if I was the only one thinking this, I also looked to The Future Laboratory to see if they were forecasting a silver lining and they sure are. In their new macro trend, ‘Pleasure Revolution’ they revealed: “Consumers will turn away from relentless productivity and shift their focus from enhancement to enjoyment. As we take time to recentre ourselves, governments are cautiously adopting new metrics of progress that favour personal wellbeing and happiness over economic growth. We can now expect a more gracious approach to consumerism – one in which pleasure, inactivity and the desire to live ordinarily are equally valid metrics of living.”
Bring on more enjoyment!
So for now, how can we embrace the pause as a way to re-align, re-evaluate and re-connect with what it is that we enjoy? After all, pausing and taking a deep breath activates our parasympathetic nervous system and makes us less stressed and happier.
Before restrictions ease and our businesses start to reopen or increase trading, I’d like you to ask yourself the following questions:
How have I felt during this time? (It could be many emotions, so list them all).
What things have I been doing that I would like to keep doing when we move beyond restrictions?
If you’ve still been working, what work have you been doing now which you would like to keep doing?
What have I been missing during this time?
What have I (surprisingly) not been missing as much as I thought I would?
Are there new ways you’d like to run your business from now on?
As you ponder those questions, I’ll leave you with this quote from the book ‘Small Giants’ by Bo Burlingham:
“Businesses are the building blocks, not just of an economy but of a whole way of life. What they do and how they do it have an impact that extends far beyond the economic sphere. They shape the communities we live in and the values we live by and the quality of the lives we lead.”
Let’s all use the power of this pause to re-align our businesses to be the best building blocks they can be, for our local communities, our planet, ourselves, and our families.
Katie
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