the surprising gift of the pandemic
  • Do you feel you will never go back to how you were before the pandemic?
  • Do you appreciate life and your relationships more since the pandemic?
  • Did all of the challenges from the pandemic create a silver lining with the desire for change?

When growth comes from challenges

Following the pandemic, the term “post-traumatic growth” has been seen in mainstream press as a way of describing the psychological benefit of trauma.

We can all look back over our lives and find times when we’ve had immensely challenging situations which have ended up helping us grow. For example, some of us have lost a loved one, experienced a difficult break up or lost our job.

The pandemic created a new experience – the first time in a generation, in western societies, where we have experienced such an extended period of fear and uncertainty. This has created an even deeper connection to our global colleagues who have experienced such significant trauma through wars and natural disasters in their countries.  The global pandemic was the first time for many decades where we went through a crisis of this magnitude together.

As well as increasing our collective awareness and sister and brotherhood with each other, at a personal level it created an existential crisis where we questioned everything. What was the purpose of this life? What makes me happy? What am I here to do?

The benefits of post-traumatic growth

People who have experience post-traumatic growth talk about how they appreciate life so more than before. Their relationships have improved and they feel there are new possibilities in life.  New levels of personal strength and spirituality emerge.

There are four factors that you can cultivate that lead to post-traumatic growth:

  • Honest optimism: optimism reduces our sense of helplessness whilst also facing the realities of the situation
  • Perception of control: take control of the situation and/or change our perception of the situation
  • Coping style – acceptance, problem solving and using humour to positively reinterpret situation
  • Strong sense of self – knowing ourselves well and having a sense of purpose in life

I’ve worked with many women to look at how the pandemic has created post-traumatic growth for them.

Women are asking for new ways of working, finding new company’s and some have decided to change career completely. Some are not ready to change, yet. They want to continue in their current company or profession but in a way that delivers opportunities and balance for them.

Other women are completely redesigning their lives – from the country they live in, the relationship they are in to how they want to live their day to day lives.

If you want to change your career/life after the challenges of the pandemic, it is possible. It is worth it.

How to explore your post-traumatic growth

Ok Angela, I feel like I need to take action to take the pressure off at work.
So what can I do next?

You may be wondering:

How can I best make a decision regarding what to do next?

What are some of the alternative options that I could explore?

How do I cope with managing my workload in the meantime?

Decide what you want to do

If you are looking for immediate one-to-one support, contact me and we can have a chat.

If you are committed to making a change, join one of the My Wisdom programs.