5 Strategies to Gain Control of Your Life

Crises such as COVID-19 create upheaval and change in our lives. So why do some people fiercely resist change whereas others openly embrace it? In her classic HBR article, Rosabeth Moss Kanter highlights surprise, loss of control, and uncertainty as three key reasons why people resist change. However, at the same time that change creates loss, it offers possibility. 

The coronavirus pandemic has created a new normal for everyone. Whether you are a small business owner struggling to stay in operation, a recent graduate worried about their future, a leader uncertain how to support employee mental health and wellbeing during reentry, or anyone feeling the stress of this current climate, these techniques or “FACTS” are a tool to help you feel more control of your life. Here are 5 steps you can take to buffer against burnout, stress and anxiety and adapt to change.

Focus your attention. 

Tune out the external noise and tune into your inner voice. Find peace, insight and stillness. Meditation is an excellent way to center yourself, find the calm within the storm and gain clarity.

Adapt to change. 

Let go of limiting beliefs, mental models, and negative emotions that no longer serve you. Adopt new actions, behaviors and mindsets to facilitate change and transition to the new normal. To strengthen your change agility, try these three actions: 1) Celebrate the End – Acknowledge what you are letting go of and thank it for its usefulness; 2) Contemplate the Transition – Use a growth mindset to help you move from the known ending to the unknown beginning and set short-term goals to move through the transition; 3) Cherish the Beginning – Consider all the possibilities this new beginning offers and identify the purpose and meaning they have for you personally. 

Care for yourself. 

Practice and prioritize regular self-care through daily exercise, healthy nutrition, and sufficient sleep. Stay healthy in mind, body, and heart to raise your positive energy and serve others. Develop a schedule or routine and stick to it to realize the most benefit.

Transition to a gratitude attitude. 

Develop a daily gratitude practice to focus on the positive and see possibility. Be kind, share love and spread abundance to yourself and those around you.

Select your state.  

Choose your mindset, mood and frame of mind. Enable deep learning, strategic decision making and resiliency to deliver clear communications and lead with heart and intention. If you are in a bad mood, try this quick state change to shift your emotions: Put on your favorite dance song, turn it up loud, and dance your heart out in your living room. After 5 or 10 minutes, assess how you feel. You’ll find that your bad mood has lifted and you are in a space of positivity and lightness, likely with a smile on your face. 

The existence of COVID-19 has forever changed our reality. How, where, and with whom we interact, live, work, love and connect will never be the same. COVID-19 is the opportunity of a lifetime to shift your personal paradigm. Use these FACTS to expand your change capacity, dance with ambiguity, buffer burnout, reduce stress and gain control of your life.