With COVID-19 permeating every aspect of our lives right now, there are a lot of folks being impacted. A lot of our clients have transitioned to working from home, and with the majority of the country in a "stay at home" order people's lives look completely different than they did 2 months ago. Stress has run rampant (and if you say you're not stressed out your probably lying to yourself) and many people are struggling to accept and adapt to this "new norm."
The reality is we don't know when or if things will "go back to normal" so it's important that you take the time to adjust your expectations of "normal" and create strategies to ensure that you come out on the flip side of COVID-19 successful--whatever success looks like to you. If humanity is to continue to thrive, we must call upon our resilience.
So today, let's do a check in: how are you doing? We'll also give you some strategies reset expectations and to help adjust to your new normal.
How we at CNU Fit look at strategies for resilience is through Zig Ziglar's 7 areas of life: Spiritual, Fitness and Nutrition, Finances, Physical Environment, Social, and Family.
- Spiritual: When it comes to your spiritual life, things may look a little different lately. You probably can't gather at Church an as social beings it can be challenging to find the same connection. So how are you staying connected to your spiritual life? Some strategies are: joining a virutal bible study, or starting a prayer group that talks on the phone or face times with one another; ensure you're plugging into an online church or podcast on Sundays as if you were attending church traditionally. If you don't attend church, are you meditating? Reading? Do you have a routine where you are getting in touch with your spirituality on a regular basis? If not, create one!
- Fitness & Nutrition: Now your workout space is in the same space that you eat, the same space you work, and hang out, and spend time with family. Have you figured out an area that you can use as your fitness space? Our clients have adjusted to remote training, where we train them live using technology as our eyes so that they can continue to reach their goals. Some tips are: dedicate one area of your house to be your health and wellness room, use this area to do stretching and to exercise. For nutrition: clear the pantry! Don't tempt yourself to snack constantly throughout the day by having food stockpiled that isn't nutrient dense. Also, continue to meal prep like normal! Having food readily available will limit your need for convenience food snacking.
- Finances: A lot of things have change in our outside environment: what's available at stores, how much we're working, how much money we're bringing in. Have you re-created a game plan? How you make money may look different now. Many small businesses are struggling to stay alive and what will determine whether or not they survive is how well they can adapt. The same goes for individuals. The best way to make sure you stay in good standing financially is to re-set your budget. Figure out what is a necessity and what isn't and re-allocate your finances to the areas that truly matter.
- Physical Environment: Your physical environment has been shrunk down to one or two places. Now your home is the hub of the majority of your time, so it's important to find creative ways to de-stress. Going out and having fun looks different now! Maybe it's picking up some board games, or taking on some at-home projects that you can do with the family. It also means that you have to set physical boundaries in your home: designate your work space, hang out space, and de-stress space.
- Emotional Health: How are you managing your emotional health? One of the best ways to ensure that you are staying positive is talking to yourself positively and imputing positive data into your mind. Instead of watching the news for the latest updates first thing in the morning, read a book or listen to a podcast about personal development. Ask yourself every day: what am I finding joy in? what do I appreciate most about this experience? who am I grateful for? And write it down and reflect on it every day! This will lift your spirits.
- Social Support: Humans are social by nature, so what are you doing to stay social? Of course we need to physically distance ourselves from others, but we have so much technology today that we can still stay connected despite having to distance. Go into your network and reach out to people you haven't spoken to in a while. No agenda, just check in and reconnect. Call 3 people a week! Maybe it's coworkers or family members or friends. Also, use this time as a time to upskill on different areas of your life: maybe for your job, or skills at home, that way you can come out of this stronger than you came in.
- Family: It's times like these where we want to hold on to our families just a little bit tighter. Use this time to get to know your spouse or family better, to show them how much you appreciate them. Reach out to family you haven't spoken to in a long time and reconnect.
We hope these tips help you adjust to your new normal. As always, mindset is everything so keep a positive mindset and it will be okay!
