Flood of Change

It would be an understatement to say there has been a flood of change these last few years. (The cover photo is an actual picture of my road after Idalia.)

Professionally, the landscape of work as we know it completely changed in March of 2020.

In the years following, I hit the road solo on Covid Quest (just one State to go!). Along the many routes, the scenery changed often. But it was heavier than that. Relationships changed. Contracts changed. I changed.

Finally, in the spring of 2023, I settled down in my forever home. I was overcome with deep feelings of peace, stability, safety, love, acceptance and happiness. I never wanted it to change.

Then the flood came. Curses, Idalia! My new (perfect!) normal way of life changed.

How I kept my sanity through that (some might argue I didn’t) is beyond me, but I credit my career. My inner Change Champion cheered me on—“You know what to do. You’ve coached thousands through change.”

So I went into analysis. What self-imposed “how it’s done” are you clinging to like a life raft? What skills do you need to adopt in this new normal? What are your points of resistance?

“I don’t want things to change! I liked the old way!”, was the usual sob-filled, tantrum-like answer.

Exhaustion quickly set it. Saturated, literally this time, by yet another change—this one being completely out of my control. Days were spent in self-criticism for not knowing what to do or how to fix things. Fear of the unknown set in hard.

(OCM lesson – don’t leave your end users feeling overwhelmed, dumb, scared and helpless. They don’t want to change, no matter how many times you tout “enhanced security features”.)

As I write this blog, the first since TFF (I’ll let you figure out the curse words), it feels good to be back to an old routine in a new normal. I’m still practicing the skill of letting go, but did pick up some handy new home skills along the way. There’s always a new normal.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Shannon Vasko is a natural-born planner with a passion for strategy and integrated communications. © MI Compass Services.