Reflections during COVID

As the COVID-19 challenge has been unfolding, I’ve noticed that many people are working on the basis of the problematic and unchallenged assumption that before isolation we were all “living our best life”.

While this may be true for some of us, and many of us have observed changes to our lives that aren’t wholly welcome, I believe that is it important to recognise the possibility for these changes to herald in a new (an improved) era.

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace study, only 15% of employees are actually engaged at work – meaning the majority of people get through their workdays feeling negative about the work they do or attempting only the bare minimum necessary to survive. It also means most people spend the majority of their life feeling unhappy, because the workplace is traditionally where we spend most of our time! For these people, the changes caused by COVID-19 might be a welcome opportunity to change for the better.

In this situation, we can take a leaf out of the book of Helen Garner who once thanked her previous employer for firing her because it allowed her to write a book that had earned her national recognition. Similarly, we turn to the Buddhist idea that negative events give us a chance to “wake up” to our reality. Commonly our careers are chosen on whims or by chance when we are young, often through poor careers advice at school, and we allow subsequent opportunities to lead us, sleepwalking, down a path of career development. For some, this method works out well, but others never stop to consider what they actually want to do with their lives – often leading to job dissatisfaction and lack of workplace engagement.

So why is all of this relevant now? To the many people currently unemployed or temporarily stood down, or even just those of you who are beginning to realise going back to work might not be so appealing, we say use this opportunity to reflect on life before COVID-19. Were you happy in your previous role? If not, now is the perfect opportunity to take a step back and examine your options. We’ve been inspired by the clients who have come to us in this time to change for the better by seeking to understand themselves and what they really want out of this one life we’re given.

It’s not often that we have this opportunity to focus on ourselves and change for the better. If isolation is your “cocoon phase” for development, what do you want to emerge as?

Written by Madeleine Crawford and Susan Crawford