Written by: Dr. Don Wood, PhD, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Have you given any thought as to how much has changed in your life since the COVID-19 pandemic entered the world? For most people, their lives, and relationships over the past couple of years have dramatically changed. Those changes impacted finances, relationships, work relations, health and mental health, leisure activities, and more. There are some positive changes, however, it is human nature to focus on the negative. To be honest, there probably has been more negative than positive depending on your individual circumstances.
According to most research studies conducted on the subject, most people surveyed (89%) would say there was at least one negative change in their own life. At the same time, almost 75% mentioned there was at least one unexpected upside. Not surprisingly, there was more to the negative side than the positive side. After all, 180,000 people died from the pandemic just in the United States and over six million worldwide. Although humans tend to have a bias towards the negative, it is still a testament to our human spirit that we can find the silver lining in a tragic situation. In the United States the research did not uncover any typical or high majority of negative responses from one area. In fact, not all groups seem to have experienced the pandemic equally. For example, younger and higher educated Americans were more likely to find a positive from the experience. On the other hand, women were more likely than men to highlight their challenges and difficulties. The least commonly mentioned type of negative experience was economic difficulties. Approximately 20% stated the pandemic affected them financially. Depending on the survey that number could go as high as 33%. Some of that extra frustration came from the fact that people had to use their savings to pay their bills while others were experiencing trouble even paying them. These types of surveys can sometimes be misleading because it depends on who is surveyed and where they live.
Less than half of those numbers reported positive changes to their financial situations. That could have been the result of people seeing the opportunity to save money because they had less to do. Others may have been able to capitalize off the pandemic by providing services in demand.
What did you experience, more positive or negative?
How did the pandemic affect your career? According to research, about 25% of surveyed said it negatively impacted their jobs or careers. Most of those people lost their job or career as a direct result of the pandemic. Some of those surveyed expressed frustration from having to work from home. Once again, less than half that amount, about 12%, expressed a positive impact on their jobs and/or careers. A considerable number of the positive responses came from higher-income and higher-educated individuals. Greater productivity and less travel time to and from work were high on the list of benefits reported.
What did you experience regarding your job or career?
Regarding politics, slightly more than a quarter of the respondents expressed concerns about the government’s response to the pandemic. There were some that expressed frustration with the government’s lack of response to the spread of the disease, while at the same time others were angry because the lockdowns were financially devastating and, in their opinion, overhyped and unnecessary. There was annoyance about what they saw as a loss of freedom over mask-wearing requirements and at the same time others saw the opposite issue and expressed frustration that their fellow citizens refused to respect their safety by declining to wear a facemask in public.
Would you consider yourself pleased or dissatisfied with how the government managed the pandemic response?
Amazingly, and again a tribute to our human spirit, some people surveyed reported that they believe the pandemic brought out the best in our society. That is the good news. The shocking news is the numbers of these people were so small that the researchers could not consider them significant enough to measure. We should be happy that these people even exist, there are some people you just cannot keep down. Here is a significant area of concern, Health! Very few people responded that they saw an improvement in their health, approximately 14%. They described eating healthier, making better lifestyle choices, and experiencing less stress on a day-to-day basis. On the other side, almost twice as many reported a decline in their physical and mental health. This was sometimes the result of the loss of a loved one, or the stress of worrying about catching COVID, creating anxiety and depression. Because it was difficult to get to the gym or get outside, weight gain was a common concern. This was reported in more than 30% of women as compared to men at 20%. Almost one-third of respondents say they lost a lot of time they used to engage in leisure activities. Being stuck at home was a common reason and older people found the isolation of being stuck at home a major concern. Younger people had far less concern with the feeling of being stuck at home. Approximately 25% said their daily lives improved. Common benefits included describing a slower pace of life, new hobbies, additional time to work on home improvement projects, and cleaning time.
The most significant issue was the impact on relationships and families. Over 40% of people reported feelings of isolation, missing family members and friends. Concerns centered around losing connections with loved ones. By contrast, about 33% of people surveyed discussed positive impacts on their relationships. The ability to spend more quality time with their children and spouses was a benefit for these individuals. This was once again higher among the younger population (under 50) surveyed,40% to 25% respectively.
So, ask yourself these questions. How did you fare regarding these areas? More positive or negative? And in which areas? It is important to take inventory of your life sometimes. Whether you found one area positive or not, be grateful for the things you have. Focus on the positive, battle the natural tendency to the negative bias and watch your life develop. Whatever you tend to focus on will expand. What are your thoughts? And there it is!
Dr. Don Wood, PhD, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Don Wood, Ph.D., author, speaker, Founder & CEO of the Inspired Performance Institute and creator of the patented TIPP method. TIPP is a cutting-edge method inspired and developed through the newest developments in neuroscience and designed to clear away the effects of disturbing or traumatic events, repurpose old patterns, and set the individual’s mind up for peak performance. In essence, it “REBOOTs” the brain’s stuck thought pattern, making it possible to enhance alpha oscillations with a noninvasive and effective shift in brain wave activity. Author of two top-selling books, Emotional Concussions and You Must Be Out of your Mind.
