A Leader’s Advice on the New Normal

The last year has been a tough one for the whole world. No one living today has had to navigate a year like 2020. My 80-year-old grandma told me she has never seen anything like this, and I think that sentiment rings true for all generations. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but was the last year a waste of a year?

Did you grow in any way?

As a wrestling coach whose season was shut down just days before the biggest events of the year due to COVID-19, I had to learn a lot. It was something that happened daily and not without failing a lot. I had to get creative with my wrestling coaching and business. The new normal meant Zoom classes and solo workouts, but I got through because I had the drive.

If you feel like you failed, the good news is that there is still time. We have changed as a world, and you can change and evolve as well.

There were many things that I immediately changed about my schedule that will be “forever changes.” The first thing I did was begin scheduling out my day the night before. This helped me go to bed with an attack plan for the following day. When you plan your day and can check off each completed task, it gives you a sense of satisfaction and helps motivate you to continue to complete tasks. When you have days that are filled with a bunch of items, or nothing at all, it helps to have a plan on what you want to accomplish.

The next thing I did was set time each day to read and listen to some sort of educational podcast. I tried to read every morning for about 30 minutes. Podcasts are great too because I could listen while I was driving, working out or just relaxing before bed. This helped me learn more about business and other topics I was interested in. It also helped me take my mind off of what was going on in the world.

You always hear that the most successful people are reading every day, and I believe that is probably true. You can learn a lot about the world and yourself by reading and taking your mind away from the world.

The final thing I learned that really helped me and my mindset was to take notes every day about what was going on — whether it was just how my day went or keeping track of the important moments of the day. We can get caught up with going through the motions and forgetting important things, so writing more down and keeping track of the important moments of the day can really help you out.

We are going through unprecedented times, and we will not only get through it all, but we can thrive. Being able to think through important decisions and plan will help out. Failure and mess-ups will happen but having a plan and accomplishing your daily goals, both small and large, will help you through it.

We are going through a new normal, but with the right mindset, we will be just fine.