The Great Resignation, The Overwhelm Syndrome
A client of mine is more and more restless at her work. She is overwhelmed, burnt out and can’t see any end in sight. She is not alone.
Many, many people are finding that their time during the pandemic allowed them to rest, recover and explore what they really love. Then they return to work and find they are no longer interested in working under the pressure they had previously gotten used to!
Why is this happening? And what is the explanation for the great resignation from careers?
I believe that once we experience true rest, recovery, reflection and peace of mind, we can’t then go back to ignoring it.
The truth is, there is a wide-open window of creativity at the moment. The opportunity to reinvent work is palpable and exciting if we will only participate in that reinvention. How do we maintain balance and be effective? How do we include everyone in the well-being conversation? What if “getting back to normal” is the exact wrong focus at the moment?
Many companies and organizations are experimenting. Business Networking International, BNI for short, was an exclusively in-person weekly meeting designed to build referral partnerships that help each other build their businesses. In the first month of the pandemic, they moved everything on-line through Zoom within 2 weeks! Light on their feet, they continued to have meetings for the past 2 years, inventing a slide deck, new training modules, and new ways to engage that all kept chapter members safe, engaged, and excited. Now that the pandemic is turning towards an Endemic, they are experimenting with chapters being all on-line, all in-person, or a hybrid model. And every step of the way they have surveyed members to be certain they can hear what is working or not.
This ability to roll with the circumstances and stay true to the culture and mission of the organization is a great model for the future.
They include all voices, move swiftly, maintain education to help people make the turn, and recognize star members over and over and over again. They are generous with their time and resources. And they encourage people to stay engaged while having fun.
The only access to being creative is in deeply knowing and respecting what you intuitively know needs to shift. Now is NOT the time to indulge in insecurity! We must stay in touch with all kinds of new ideas about how to keep this feeling of well-being and inspiration alive. When you allow yourself the freedom of peace of mind, more of the world opens up to you. Opportunities show up out of nowhere and ideas come tumbling forward into new thinking. That’s where the magic comes from. And it is essential as we move forward in this transitional time that we honor the feeling inside that we KNOW is right, and not let our scarcity of resources allow us to override that knowing. And we must not be paralyzed either.
Creatives know this place of knowing and not knowing and are much more comfortable not knowing, allowing the new to show up in its’ timing, not in someone else’s.
And keep your eyes open for kindred spirits who have found something new to unfold. Seeing the new come into being bolsters our own ability to breathe and watch wisdom bring something new forward.
Where do you see something new coming into being? Get interested in what they are doing! Join them if that inspires you. At the very least, let them know you notice their journey. And let me know about the new that you see around you.