Have you ever been hit with a new normal that you didn’t ask for or want? A divorce? A move? A sick child? A lost job? For those of us who like to plan and know our future, a new normal can really throw us off our game. So how do you handle it?
Here are three tools to adjust quickly to a new normal.
Start With Behavior That Promotes What You Do Want
Want to change your eating habits after a diagnosis? Meet with a nutritionist and commit to the changes for a specific amount of time. Want to be the credible client in your divorce? Find a coach or friend to help you organize all your papers and thoughts before meeting with your attorney. Want to stand out in a job search? Make sure your resume is up to date, your LinkedIn is current, and your social media is cleaned up. BE the person you want to be, even when you don’t feel like it. According to Andrew Huberman, Stanford neuroscientist, behavior leads to thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. Our BEHAVIORS direct our outcomes.
Focus on the positive
Keep a gratitude journal and list three good things at the end of every single day. Studies show that positive experiences outweigh negative in a 3:1 ration, but we focus MUCH more on the negative experiences. Optimistic people, and resilient people, make an effort to focus on the positive of circumstances. When we focus on the positive, we find glimmers in our new normal that we never anticipated! (Segerstrom 2001)
Look At Your New Normal As A Challenge And Not A Threat
As human beings, we enjoy succeeding when challenged! And, when we succeed at a challenge, we build our confidence! Tugrade and Fredrickson, (2004), found that when study participants looked at difficult tasks as something they knew they could overcome had a much faster recovery time to their baseline level of resilience than those who perceived difficult tasks as challenges
