The 1 thing you need to know if you’re worried about lockdown ending and having to return to “normal”

It’s over a year since the UK was belatedly put into a national lockdown to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Now, whilst there have been periods where restrictions have been lifted (Coronavirus was very generous in coming to an agreement with the UK government about calling a truce for Christmas day, a bit like the British and German Troops in World War 1)

But in general it certainly feels like we’ve been fully locked down since March 2020.

When Boris Johnson announced the “roadmap to recovery” (whatever that means) it sounded a lot like there was widespread cheer about the whole thing.

And to be honest, why shouldn’t there be cheer?

But after running a poll on my Instagram it turned out that over half of you were “more nervous” rather than “more excited” about the prospect of things returning to “normality”.

And that’s why I’ve decided to put together this blog on how to return to normal after a year of things being anything but normal.

Not everyone is cheering about the roadmap to recovery.

When the announcement was made about the dates when people would be able to do certain things I saw countless posts about people booking the 21-23rd June off of work so they could get hammered and recover from their hangover across two days because it was going to be such an epic night.

If you’re of the mindset then awesome, you can go and enjoy yourself!

But if the idea of that New Year’s Eve on steroids style carnage actually intimidates you then you’re certainly not alone.

Here’s the one thing you need to remember.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing!

People are talking about getting really drunk, going out and hugging everyone, going on long trips around the country.

But just because they’re talking about that doesn’t mean that you have to do any of it.

What other people are doing and what you’re doing is not important and not linked.

You need to come out of all of this at your own pace, you’re not in competition with anyone.

Some people will be desperate to get out and get drunk as soon as possible, a lot of people are just going to be happy that they will have the opportunity to do things like this even if they don’t actually do them.

Focus on your own way out of lockdown

Once restrictions are lifted you’re able to do whatever you used to do there is however no rush to do so but it is really important that you do start taking steps towards getting back to “normal”.

As humans we tend to operate within our comfort zones the majority of the time. Everything is safe, warm and cuddly here which is why we stay here.

There isn’t actually any room for growth within this comfort zone though and worse still the longer you stay within this comfort zone the smaller it will get.

Things that used to be easy to you will start feeling a little more challenging and you’ll perhaps modify them so that you find it easier to do and hence the comfort zone shrinks.

A smaller comfort zone is the last thing you want.

As restrictions lift it is time to start giving yourself things to do which you find a little uncomfortable and a little challenging.

I’m not talking about a skydive on Day 1, I’m talking about having one drink in a quiet pub or whatever is something which is a step towards what you’d like to be getting back to.

Celebrate your successes and then repeat them

You don’t need to compare anything that you find challenging with anyone else.

If you found something difficult and you had success then you celebrate that, you tell yourself you’ve done well.

But you don’t leave it there, as soon as possible you repeat that action. 

And then do it again and again until it feels easy and doesn’t make you uncomfortable anymore.

Once you’ve got that down you move onto the next challenging thing etc etc.

As you do this your comfort zone grows and you’ll feel more happy and confident doing things that were once challenging.

The only person you should be comparing yourself to is the you of 2-weeks or a month ago, aim to do better than them.

There will be times when things feel easier, there will be harder times it is important to look at long term progress rather than day-to-day.

Having a bad day doesn’t mean you’ve gone backwards at all.

Finishing up

This is a really simple concept but let’s recap quickly.

1. It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing.
2. Do NOT compare yourself with anyone else except yourself
3. Go at your own pace
4. Do NOT let yourself fester in your comfort zone.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this and are interested in finding out how to enjoy your life even more then why not book a free consultation with me as a life coach.

Simply click the link below.