Written by: Keith Blakemore-Noble, 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.
Around the world, we've been in various stages of lockdowns and restrictions over the past 18 or more months as globally we fight the COVID pandemic.
Which has resulted in a situation which, with the best will in the world, could not really be described as "normal" in the conventional sense of the word!
As we collectively grow cautiously optimistic that the worst is hopefully behind us, and as the world continues to carefully reopen, one question on many people's lips is "When will things be back to normal?"
Here's the thing about "Normal".
Normal has ALWAYS been changing!
Always.
Normal is never constant, and it hasn't been for decades, centuries even.
Yes, we've had a significant upheaval with a step-change 18 months ago, kicking off a new way of running life.
That is very true.
But the thing is, Normal is never constant, it is always evolving - sometimes that is via a massive step change (e.g. the Pandemic Lockdowns, or the invention of the Telephone, or the Industrial Revolution, or...) where there is a very definite before-and-after moment, and a massive noticeable change, and more often that is with a slow gradual evolution which we don't notice day to day but which, when you look back, becomes more apparent.
Was daily life, in business and personal life, the same in 1980 as it was in 1989? No, it certainly wasn't! Whether you lived through the '80s or whether you have just heard or read about them, there's no denying there were many massive and significant changes throughout the decade, and that normal life at the end of the decade was a very different thing from normal life at the start of it.
What about 1980 compared with 1999? Again, significant change.
Same for any time period.
All that has happened in the past 18 months is that we've had a much bigger than usual change in a much shorter time than usual affecting far more people simultaneously than usual, but it's still just change which is the only constant in this life.
Those hankering after a Normal which is a return to Feb 2020 (or, more accurately, Sept 2019) will be in for a disappointment, for that is never returning in that exact manner.
But then again, Sept 2022 was ALWAYS going to be a different normal from Sept 2019, just usually in a more gradual form.
Normal is always changing, always evolving.
With any change, we can either look at the negative, look at what we might feel may have been lost, look at why it's an unpleasant change, look for things to be scared of with the change, and use it as an excuse for any manner of problems.
OR
We can look at the positive, look at what we feel may have been gained, look at how we can take advantage of what the change offers, looking for things to be grateful for, to celebrate, to harness and springboard from, look at what the change makes possible for us.
And realise that Normal is, really, all around us - it's just constantly changing, and we can either grow and evolve with it, or we can get stuck hankering for a past Normal which no longer exists and never will again.
One thing for which I think we can all pause and be thankful is that this all kicked off in 2019 and not 1979 - lockdown in 1979 on that scale would have been FAR more damaging, far more catastrophic for business, for the economy, and for each and every one of us individually - doesn't bare thinking about, frankly.
So, rather than wondering when things will get back to Normal, perhaps we would do well to pause, look around, realise that this is, for now, Normal, and roll with it.
Keith Blakemore-Noble, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Keith is an award-winning coach, international speaker, and best-selling author who helps people transform their deepest fears into their greatest strengths. Growing up, he loved the idea of being a performer, entertaining people, and wanted nothing more than to be an actor, magician, or hypnotist. Unfortunately, he was also painfully shy, finding it almost impossible to speak with strangers - this ruled out his ambitions and made it very hard to make friends or even connect with colleagues. So instead, he pursued a very successful 20+ year career in IT until he studied hypnosis and NLP to help him to conquer his own fears, which opened up the way for him to be all the things he dreamed of being. Since 2010 he has used these same skills and experiences to help over 5,000 people around the planet to conquer their own fears, quickly and permanently, earning him the title of UK’s 1 Fear Strategist. He has published several books, appeared on countless podcasts, written for many publications, and spoken on stages in Bali, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Tibet, United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam, as well as speaking at numerous virtual events globally.
