Management

WORKPLACE

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

GETTING BACK INTO ACTION AS WE MOVE OUT OF COVID Take a minute for Meee By Sid Madge For anyone involved in the sports and fi tness industry, the experience of Covid has been all encompassing. As we ease out of this period how can you come back with energy and focus?

I’m a great believer in ‘micromoments’, the ability to change our life in any moment and to use these tiny, manageable interventions to gain positive momentum – even when things are challenging.

Try these ideas with a handy fi ve-letter acronym, C.O.V.I.D. Let’s make the rest of this year the best ever. CREATE A BETTER SITUATION FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS During the pandemic many of us have come to appreciate, perhaps for the fi rst time in ages, what’s really important. C invites you to create something new or better, at work and elsewhere. Take a minute to consider your current situation. Imagine the pandemic is a distant memory – what is your ideal life like now? Forget about grand gestures, focus on the little things, the insights you’ve learned in this stillness about what makes you happy – go after more of that. OPTIMISM IS OPPORTUNITY Given your area of work there’s a good chance that you’re a glass half-full rather than a glass half-empty person. However, optimism may have waned during several on/off lockdowns. Science has proven that we operate across a range that is aff ected mainly by environment and mindset. Th e uberpessimist tends to see things as personal, pervasive and permanent ie. when things go wrong it’s their fault. You may well have seen this with clients if you are a personal trainer, for example.

Optimism feels better – nothing is permanent, not even Covid. When we shift towards to the optimistic end of our range, we’ll see more opportunity and feel better. Encourage yourself and others around you in this direction.

VALUES WILL KEEP YOU FOCUSED ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT Our actions and behaviour are usually a living expression of our values.

Take a minute to visit the Meee website (www.meee.global) and take part in the values exercise. Th is will help to identify what your values are. What’s most important to you? Can you see evidence of these values in your life? Use your values to keep you focused on what’s really important. INVOLVE THOSE THAT NEED YOUR SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP Humans are social creatures, and we need to be involved and connected with others.

Can you leap into action to help a colleague who needs a little extra support? How about Th e Samaritans’ brilliant idea, Brew Monday? Make a brew and call someone for a natter. We might not be able to do all the things we used to do yet, but we can still talk and stay connected. DIAL DOWN THE STRESS To dial down stress, it’s important to focus on self-care, off ering kindness and hope to yourself and others. Even those working in sport/fi tness may have slipped during lockdown so, if necessary, return to eating properly, getting out into nature and your normal exercise regime. We can all come back stronger and with renewed energy and focus.

● Sid Madge is founder of Meee (My Education Employment Enterprise), which draws on the best creativity and thinking from the worlds of branding, psychology, neuroscience, education and sociology to help people achieve extraordinary lives. He is also author of Meee in Minute, a series of books, each off ering 60 ways to change your life.