There Is No “New Normal”
One of my least favorite trendy phrases is “new normal”. It makes me crazy.
It’s clear we’re not going back. It’s clear that the “if-then” scripts that once governed life are breaking down.
- If I go to college, then I’ll get a stable job.
- If I excel at work, then I’m safe.
- If I do everything right, then life will reward me.
Yet, “new normal” implies that we just need to find a new formula, new equations to plug in, and we’re good to go. I see people trying this. It’s not going well.
Our world now runs on rapid change and ambiguity. Those equations fail in a world of unknowns.
Anyone that’s looking for a new set of rules to settle into will massively struggle. Our world is changing way too rapidly.
So what’s the answer?
Be The Experiment
We recently talked with Jillian Reilly on our podcast. She shared a mindset shift and a method: live by experiments, not equations.
Daniel Goodenough calls it prototyping.
I love it. They’re both simple and do-able. I’m in.
It would be great if we could look to our current systems (schools, hiring, business, government, and so on) for guidance. The problem is that they’re enormous freighters trying to navigate small unknown ports – they’re slow moving, cause lots of damage and need multiple tug boats to guide them.
They are not the answer. We are.
We -humans in transition- are our own best tools. We are the agile, maneuverable speedboats that can forge new paths.
While that may seem scary or overwhelming, it’s actually freeing. We have the power – AND we know exactly where to start.
We experiment. We prototype. We work one step at a time.
Thinking differently requires building new neural networks. Building new neural networks requires repetition and consistency. So we follow the prototype protocol: start with the vision, then iterate and review, iterate and review, iterate and review.
Our world now runs on rapid change and ambiguity. The old constants fail in a world of unknowns.
A New Path
Imagine an overgrown field between you and where you work. There are sidewalks a mile away to either side of you, yet you can see your office directly in front of you – through the overgrown field.
You go for it, trek through the field.
- You get to work and look back and barely see evidence that you were there (clear vision – get to the office, iteration – try trekking through the field, review – assess how it went)
- After work, you head home through the field. Looking back, there’s still no obvious path (clear vision – get home, iteration – head back through the field, review – assess how it went)
After a week of walking back and forth, keeping to your landmarks you see the beginnings of a path. After several weeks, it’s obvious and others have started to see it and use the path, too. It gets wider and easier to navigate.
At any point, something could change, encountering a wasp nest, stepping into a swampy patch or meeting a grumpy land owner. Because of the clear intention (a new way to work), consistent, small iterations (walking across) and review (what showed up), everything that shows up becomes a step in the process rather than a ticking time bomb.
Our brains are neuroplastic (meaning they can physically change through new thought patterns and behaviors), and this is how we create the new neural networks that allow us to navigate our rapidly changing world – no matter how much, or how quickly, it changes.
Danger or Discomfort
Using this system builds the internal neural path AND shows the way in the outer world.
It builds evidence that the unknown is not the enemy. Every intentional, conscious choice widens our base of experience, which expands our ability to choose well in uncertainty.
It’s easier to identify discomfort as just that – discomfort – without catastrophizing it. Walking through the overgrown field is not initially comfortable. It’s also not a catastrophe.
The brain learns to discern discomfort from danger. Order a different meal and hate it? That’s discomfort. Pitch a new idea and feel exposed? Discomfort. Take a new role and wrestle with imposter syndrome? Discomfort.
Real danger exists, and conflating the two keeps us frozen and small.
Using prototyping to interact with the world turns unease into the natural friction of growth rather than proof of danger.
Taking small, intentional risks proves to ourselves that discomfort rarely equals harm, and helps us tell the two apart. That evidence accumulates into self-trust, our superpower in the chaos around us.
Over time, the unknown stops being a void; it becomes a landscape we know how to traverse, just like the new path across the field to the office.
Looking for support in creating a new way for yourself?
That’s exactly what we do in our year-long mastermind, the Co-Creation Circle.
For more information, click here.
Our Co-Creation Circle is all about walking the very unchartered path of co-creating with life and the future that wants to happen.
Invest in your future and be a part of a new world of opportunity!
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
~ Marianne Williamson