It's easy to feel out of control in our VUCA world where Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity surround us. Here are 4 paradigm shifts to tame the VUCA in your life.
A focused and calm state of mind is hard to come by in our daily lives filled with busyness amplified by pandemic unpredictability. Even before the pandemic, life was chaotic enough and it was a struggle to find work-life balance. Then along came "Work From Home", Zoom classrooms and everchanging pandemic restrictions to merge fragile dotted lines of work-life balance completely. Now more than ever, we are living in a VUCA world - Volatile, Unpredictable, Complex and Ambiguous.
Now as we phase out of pandemic mandates and curb social distancing restrictions, we are all experiencing a life shift as we navigate the new normal.
I spent over 10 years teaching productivity workshops to help companies and clients be efficient and effective in a VUCA world. The programs I taught focused on the mindset and skillset to identify purpose, set priorities and then implement disciplines to achieve those goals and priorities. I often spoke of being proactive and how to identify and act on things you can control vs. worrying and stressing about things that are outside of your control. I was teaching elements of mindfulness packaged as productivity and work-life balance management.
The programs I taught are even more relevant in today's pandemic world as we all look for ways to manage the continuing unpredictable and uncertain circumstances of our new normal. As I wrote in my blog "Finding Super Strength in Adversity", we can turn the shifts that happen in life into our superpowers. The fast pace of life and the conditions of a VUCA world are not going away, but we can learn from our experiences and turn the challenges into new ideas to help us thrive in the new normal.
What is VUCA and How Does it Impact our Daily Lives?
VUCA is an acronym that was first coined for military use and then in business use to describe the state of the world's business environment. Here is what the acronym stands for:
V = Volatility – The fast-changing and unpredictable environment that is often without a clear pattern or trend.
U = Uncertainty – Frequent disruptive changes where past experiences may not be a good predictor for future needs.
C = Complexity – Everything is connected. Societal, Geopolitical, Ecological, Technological… it's all interdependent and intertwined.
A = Ambiguity – Open to more than one interpretation; not having one obvious meaning.
Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity pretty accurately describe the state of our pandemic world work life and personal life. The VUCA environment can make us feel afraid and powerless as we lack control over key aspects of our lives. This reaction is natural as our brain looks for patterns and predictability to feel safe.
The struggle of living in pandemic VUCA times resulted in my own battle with anxiety and depression.
In searching for self-help and self-care to treat my anxiety and depression, I revisited the vast library of research and programs that I taught to help others. The teachings I applied to corporate programs are also applicable to my personal life. In relearning the information from the perspective of my personal need, I discovered 4 paradigm shifts that helped me to tame the VUCA in my life.
4 Paradigm Shifts to Tame VUCA
Paradigm Shift 1: Proactive Thinking
One of the worst side effects of living in pandemic times is the sense of being unable to control the basic needs in our lives. Everything from food, daily essential supplies, medicines and gasoline were in short supply at some point. And of course, our health, safety and livelihoods were also under threat. I found myself in a constant state of anxiety and worry that became paralyzing.
The teachings from "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" , Habit 1-Be Proactive was what I needed to get me out of the cycle of worry and into proactive thinking and proactive behaviour.
I recognized how worrying over things I could not control was draining me of energy and motivation and causing more anxiety. As part of my daily journaling, I would list my top 10 worries and anxieties for the day. Then I would cross out the things that I could not influence or control, which usually eliminated 5-7 items.
The remaining items on my list were things that I could influence. I would then think proactively to identify actions and behaviours that I could take to alleviate the remaining worries on that list.
Making the worry list consistently over a few weeks, I noticed that the number of worries on the list declined, especially the worries that were out of my control. Soon, I could do the list mentally and focus on proactive planning or preparations for the worries I could influence.
I still have moments of anxiety, but proactive thinking has helped me to recover from the stressful moments more easily.
Paradigm Shift 2: Redefining Personal Purpose
If you don't have a personal mission statement, I encourage you to create one. A personal mission statement helps you to see your purpose in relation to the different areas in your life. As your life evolves so can your mission statement and how it connects to the different areas of your life. Here is what mine looks like.
Before the pandemic, I was focused on how to leave a legacy that others are inspired to follow through my consulting business.
By revisiting my mission statement, I was able to redefine my purpose to be aligned with the current VUCA times.
Living Without Regret - appreciate what I have and who I have in my life. I focused on making stronger connections with family and friends.
Loving With All My Heart - expressing care for others and doing acts of kindness to help others made me feel a sense of contribution again.
Laughing With Joy and Lightness - reminds me to allow joy and laughter in my life and gives me permission to enjoy music, play board games and start-up my hobbies again.
Leave a Legacy - reminded me to be the best version of myself to support my family and friends.
For more on writing personal mission statements, here are some helpful articles.
Why You Need a Mission Statement - Digital Article, Forbes
How to Write a Personal Mission Statement - Digital Article, indeed.com
Paradigm Shift 3: Redefining Worth and Value
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was enjoying my new entrepreneur life as a consulting business owner after resigning from a long 15-year corporate career. My business was building steadily. I was enjoying growing my client base and planning new projects at the beginning of 2019. Then along came Covid-19... The world of learning and development changed drastically with wave after wave of Covid-19 as did the demand for external consultants.
I began to question my worth and value in the new VUCA reality for my industry.
Watching how different corporations handled cost-cutting and seeing so many of my family, friends, ex-colleagues and clients struggle with layoffs and expanded workload, I became disheartened. I questioned how my field of consulting can help in the new climate. I am still wondering how and if I want to impact the corporate workforce.
My journaling is a place where I work out my ideas. I made a list of my skills, talents, passions and interests and looked for how they can be applied to my core mission to help inspire others. I know that my expertise and skills have great value, but I noticed a shift in how I wanted to use them to help others.
My core personal mission to inspire others to find their value was screaming for release beyond the confines of corporate Zoom training and office function rooms.
The birth of this website is one of the results of redefining my value and worth. AYCLimitless.com is truly my passion project. I hope the platform will grow to offer insights and expertise to anyone who wants to better their personal and professional lives through self-development, self-help and mindfulness.
You can read more on how I became a first-time blogger in my 50s in my blog "It's Never Too Late to Turn a New Page".
Paradigm Shift 4: Living in Moments that Matter
Two years of VUCA life in pandemic times have forced us to change our life habits in so many ways. Lockdowns and WFH have forced us to live with ourselves and our families in isolation. The abrupt decluttering of our social lives and suddenly forced confinement with our families is sometimes a stressful VUCA climate.
Before the pandemic, we had to make time for our families and friends in our attempt to create a work-life balance. With the pandemic, we are desperate to have our social lives, travel lives and even sometimes, our office lives back.
Why are we always waiting for the perfect life balance instead of living in the moment, enjoying the moments and making moments matter? We have experienced so much illness and death in the past two years and we need to do better at living in the moment and making moments matter.
"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us."
Ashley Montagu
In Hong Kong, we have one of the world's strictest traveller quarantine requirements. As a result, I have not been able to travel to see my sons studying abroad in Canada. But that doesn't stop me from creating moments for us to connect. Especially on special occasions.
We've done two years of Chinese New Year lunches to connect my sons with their grandma and grandpa. Happiness is in the moments we create.
Evolving VUCA Times Continue
The VUCA pandemic times are daunting, but they can also build resilience, agility and innovation. We just need to be proactive, shift our paradigms and live with intention and gratitude.
Stress and anxiety will always take their place in our lives, but at least we can adapt our mindset and learn new skillsets to tame the VUCA circumstances in our lives.
If you are interested in learning more about how to navigate the VUCA world, here are some articles you may find helpful.
Leaders Make the Future - book summary, GetAbstract.com
Managing in a VUCA World - digital article, MindTools.com
I would love to hear your comments!
What impacts of VUCA do you see in your life?
How have you tamed VUCA in your life?
Which of the 4 paradigms resonate with you the most?
Which of the 4 paradigms can you use to help tame VUCA in your life?
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