10 Ways to Get Out of the "Covid Cocoon"

Robin may here and welcome to another episode of mindset Rx. Today's topic is something that was inspired by one of my colleagues who, when she was talking about her own organization and getting back into the office, she made reference to this phrase that had never heard before. She called it The covid cocoon. She said, so many people are in the covid cocoon and we're being called back to the office. And what do we do about that? So today is a follow on from last week session on my best advice for a return to the office.

And I thought I'd do something a little bit different today, something that you might not expect from... LinkedIn live podcast on mindset. I'm a psychologist by training, and I love to use my imagination. I love to tap into intuition, this is one of my gifts that I have, it's one of the things that I'm called to do as a psychologist who works with, that workers is to activate intuition, activate imagination, bring you back into your hearts where your emotional intelligent intelligence lies where your creativity lies and... Yeah, to just reset the most important thing in our world today, which is I believe intuition, so the way that I'm gonna do that is I use... I love to use images on cards to guide the conversation for these 10 things that you can do, if you're feeling a little bit like you are in the covid cocoon, and if you know somebody who's in the cubic, these might be some good tips and advice for those colleagues who are a little bit still hunker down and a little bit dig in their heels and about going back into the office... And quite frankly, I don't blame them.

I haven't worked in an office myself for literally years, by the time we all were sent home from the office... I've been working from home for, I don't know, six or seven years at that point. For that phase in my life, there was an earlier phase where I worked from home for years as well, so

Working from home was old hat for me by the time covid came around, so now that people are being asked to come back into the office and organizations are doing their best to maintain the flexibility and some of the systems and processes that were in place as we all got sent home, even as we hybridize and even as you dip your toe into returning to the office, there's gonna be some resistance to that. I don't blame you, but there's some ways around that, and one of them, by the way, is not to just re-create wheel. I think that one of the greatest fears of people who are still in the covid con might be having, and even some of those of you who are not in the covid Cancun, but are having to go back to the office, is the fear that you'll just... So easily drop back into those old ways of working, the old energies, the old business, and you'll forget all of the lessons and the gifts and the beautiful experiences that you've had, regardless of how stressful things have been, I think a lot of people are seeing the value in how their relationship to work in time and even money has changed over the past couple of years, so with that in mind, then what I'm gonna do is I love to use cards to help engage my intuition and to tap into the synchronicity and serendipity that the universe has for us.

I think that we do ourselves a disservice when we only access intellect when there's so much beneath the surface where intuition, innovation and creativity lies, so these cards are meant to activate that in you too. So let's go ahead and get started with those 10 ways you can pull yourself out of the colic so you can thrive in today's workplace and in the future of work as well. So the first thing I'm gonna talk about today is create protection for yourself. You have to be able to feel safe in order to venture out into the world, and the world, in my opinion, has done a pretty crummy job of conveying what it means to be safe, so depending on your world view and depending on your perspective on things with health and well-being, there have been some things put in place in the name of safety and security, which may or may not actually literally function in that way, but we wanna create a psychological safety for you as you head back into the workplace. Now, creating psychological safety does not mean continuing to hunker down because you're so afraid to leave your house, if you are so afraid to leave your house, then it is important to get support from an expert who can walk you through the process of reconstructing yourself or your sense of safety is the solution to feeling unsafe in the world, is not to change the world, but to begin by looking at what are the triggers that are creating the conditions for me to not want to leave, if it really is over a sentence of safety, maybe that is real for you.

There are a lot of reasons, literally to not feel safe in the world, and we can think of those from attacks on different groups of people in the last couple of years, and obviously before that as well, I'm just thinking about during this covid era, so we wanna create a sense of psychological and physical safety for yourself, for your teams, for other people, unfortunately.

No one can actually guarantee safety, I can't... The pilot who is piloting the airplane can't... We do everything that we can. So one of the questions that you ask yourself is, how can I create a sense of safety for myself, right? That's the first thing, get yourself out of the covid cocoon by creating a sense of safety for yourself, and you can do that by tuning into your intuition and asking yourself... Ask your heart, what does it mean for me to feel safe? And what are the things that I need to have in place in order to feel safe? Makes sense. That's number one second. The next thing that you can ask yourself, if you're in the covid cocoon and you're finding yourself feeling really resistant to going back to work, is to ask yourself, What am I clinging to... What am I clinging to?

I read this recently, and I wish I could remember who said it, but whoever it was was brilliant when he said, anything that I have let go of. Has cloaks on it. Alright, so what am I cleaning to? What is crumbling? What is crumbling? And when you look at what is crumbling, perhaps it's the sense of regularity that you've created, perhaps it's the sense of the security that you've created in the last couple of years as you've worked from home and gotten everybody into a routine, that routine is probably ready to shift again, and you can allow it to shift willingly or you can cling and fight against it. There is a Buddhist saying, The Buddhist will say suffering is caused by cleaning, so when you approach any challenge like going back into the office with an open-hearted, open-minded, mindful perspective, and you release your expectations and you release a sense of having to cling to it, suffering is caused by clinging, when you release that, you experience freedom, freedom to choose differently than you would have one year cleaning.

Right, so just ask, What am I cleaning on to?

It'd be an interesting conversation you have with yourself, I think... Next thing you can do to remove yourself from the covid cocoon is to take a break. I think that for a lot of thought workers, it becomes a very safe place to be behind your computer, sitting at your desk, you've got your... You've literally got a cocoon that you're sitting in, but life is meant to be lived, so get up from behind your desk, close down your screen, get outside, take a break and go live your life. Get outside, let your face field a sunshine, get outside. Connect Eitan heart-to-heart with other people. And as you're considering going back into the office, also think about how can I continue to take breaks, how can I continue to connect in with other people, even as the way that I've created my life right now is shifting... My point here is, I'm not giving you any clear and specific orders, I'm not giving you a play book for how to do this because everybody's gonna return to the office in a different way. My point here is to get you asking questions, get you being curious about what's possible as you return to the office...

So take a break. Next one, I want you to think about it this way. What if you started thinking about returning to the office is a great gathering... A return to something. Not to return to the old ways of working, but think about who you might get to see, who you haven't seen in person, think about who you get to connect with to eye and heart, heart, who you get to meet in the office kitchen and make your coffee together, think about that. Think about who's gathering, who's coming back. As human beings, we crave connection, even the introverts among us want some connection, it's healing, it's a healing balm on your heart, on the loneliness or the isolation that you felt over the past couple of years that you've gotten so used to, you wear it like a second skin, maybe it's time to release that.

So when you think about going back to the office, really consider Who am I gonna see who's gathering, and get really curious about how things have changed, how people have changed, how you've changed as a result of the time away from the office over the last couple of years. And then you can do this.

See, the people who work with me, who align with me, who vibe with me, whatever word you wanna use, are the ones who know that there's something greater at play than just our intellect, very few atheists like to hang out with me. We're just two different tribes, so if you're an... And you're here welcome. Not saying you're not welcome. But the people who really get what I'm talking about are the intuitive ones, and they're the ones who understand that there's more to life than meets the eye, that whether they refer to all that is a fad or spirit or consciousness or the universe, matters less than just acknowledging that your path, this move in your path is divinely guided, and you can just do that, you can just agree with that and affirm that your path is divinely guided... Not in the way that God wants me to go back to work, but here's an opportunity for me to create something new in my life, here's an opportunity for me to master something different that I have... That I have mastered before, here's an opportunity for me to contribute in a way that I haven't been able to contribute up until now, and when we look at opportunities like returning to the office as an opportunity rather than a limiter, or rather than something that I have to do, it's an empowering perspective, that gives way to more creativity, more innovation, more opportunities to contribute, to connect and to master that which you have not yet mastered.

So why don't you just try this on for size, why don't you just imagine and plan on that this move in your life is divinely guided, that there's a higher consciousness that God... The angels, the universe, are guiding you. And as a result of that, you're not alone, this isn't... To be done in isolation. The next way that you can come out of your covid cocoon is just say yes. Say yes to new experiences, say yes to new opportunities and start practicing improv in your work and in your life, when you adopt an attitude of curiosity, open-mindedness, open-heartedness, there are so many synchronicity and serendipity s that just arrive for you to be able to say yes or no to... But when you say yes, you just keep opening door. Say Yes, and open doors. I think this could be a really good strategy for you as you're emerging from this space in your journey from the phase of staying at home and being at home and being surrounded just with a few people as you return to start saying yes. And by the way, saying yes is actually an intuition activator. When you say No, you shut off possibilities, when you say yes, the world opens up.

We have to say Yes and mean it, by the way, and

I know I mentioned this a minute ago, but it bears repeating, now is a time in your life where you can just be reminded that you're not alone, you're not meant to walk this phase of your journey alone. You're not meant to return to the office by yourself, and even if you can't see them, there are non-physical beings, there is God, there is angels, there are angels, there are non-physical beings who are guiding you, who are with you, protecting you, advising you, and there are actual human beings as well, like myself, who are here for you as well, to bear witness to your return, to advise you to process through the challenges, the difficulties, the worries, the fear is the concerns. So remember, you're not alone. And if you think that you're alone, maybe it's time to reconsider that and to reach out to somebody who you trust and say, I feel alone. Can we talk this through? So it was a really important time also, to take care of your mental health. This is number eight, the eighth way to get out of your covid cocoon. To trust your path. So here's a great question to ask yourself, if you know in your heart of hearts that you are supported, what would you do...

There may be some of you out there who are considering the meaning of returning to the office and thinking about, Do I even wanna work for this organization anymore? We've talked in past episodes about the great resignation, the great re-shuffle, this is a great opportunity for you to stand at what's basically an existential crossroads and ask, Do I even want to go back? And if not, then what? And if not, what if I was fully supported? Then what would I do? Some of you might go back, some of you may leave and start your own company, some of you may leave and go to a start-up or to another organization that's more fully in alignment with what you hold precious and dear at any rate. On this eight-step, trust your path, there's nothing random, there's nothing random unless you make it, so just trust your path and ask yourself once again, if you knew you'd be supported, what would you do then? Number nine. Oh, I discounted. This is me. That was number seven. Sorry, I'm a better psychologist than I am a neurologist, I think. Alright, next one is this, This is practicing a devotion, number eight is practicing a devotion to your heart, to tuning into your heart and asking your heart the questions...

0:17:52.1 S2: What is it that I want right now? For thought workers, for thought leaders, the inter-lector is always on overdrive, and it's not that you're not intuitive, and it's not that you're not imaginative, but for so many years of your life, the intellect has been given primacy over all of your other abilities, and there's nothing wrong with that, up to a point, but we've reached a point actually in our world where we're calling on emotional intelligence or calling on intuitive intelligence to come forward and to offer some new solutions to come forward and create something that is workable in the context of our current circumstances, not to recreate the wheel of the past, but instead to create fire in our careers, to create fire in the world, the likes of which we haven't witnessed before, simply because you're tuning into your heart, you're tuning into your intuition, and in part tuning into your heart means taking some time to heal any of the traumas that you've encountered over the past few years or even across your lifetime that may be interfering with your capacity to say yes to these new opportunities that are coming your way, that are contributing to your reticence to leave your covid can in the first place, it's time to heal your traumas and to do so with somebody who is a trained professional, this is on a time for an app, for a text message therapist, this is time for deep seated inner work that comes with an actual human being attached to it.

Number nine, the ninth way to get out of your covid cocoon is this. Ask this question, where are you being called to? Journey to

Put another way. Where do I wanna go next? You see the difference when you're in a cocoon and you really don't wanna leave, you're digging your heels in, you're resistant to what's next. You close out all of the different opportunities and the different possibilities of what's likely to come to you in the future, and you just basically recreate more of the same... If like the same ness. That's okay. But a lot of you are creative and innovative, and you're hungry for new challenges and new opportunities to contribute your creativity and your innovative ways of thinking and being in the world. So for this ninth step, when you're asking what are you being called to journey to, I think that a way we can think about that is imagining your future, the best possible future for yourself, for your family, the way that you're going to master the things that you still have left to master the way that you're going to contribute, and always planning that it's gonna be better than you could have hoped for or imagine... That's where you're headed. That's what's possible. That's the optimistic pathway, that's the pathway that's filled with hope and gratitude, curiosity and wonderment.

Alright, last one for today. Kids, here we go. This is a good one.

I referred to it a little bit earlier when I was talking about healing your heart, but the last way you can really emerge from your covid cocoons, this to break the old patterns that are keeping you there, so those can be generational and genetic patterns, those can be work patterns from your own life, patterns of Arco-holism, patterns of overwhelm, patterns of people pleasing and co-dependence that have track with you throughout your career, break the patterns, break the patterns. Heal the traumas. And in so doing, guess what? You're rewriting your future. It's when you clear out your heart, you clear out your nervous system, your memories of those past experiences that have... How do captive kept you in fear, kept you and worry kept you in people pleasing when you clear those, you experience a freedom to be able to say what you desire for yourself in the future.

So I like to think about this time of returning to the office as an opportunity to look at what's being triggered, not to blame anybody for triggering you, 'cause you're responsible for what you do with your triggers, but look at what's being triggered and treat those triggers as an opportunity for healing and transformation rather than an opportunity to stay hunker down in what you perceive to be a safe place, because sometimes the painful familiar can be mistaken for safety. That is all I have for today. I am Dr. Robin, Mickey, if you would like me to come in and talk with you and your teams about the psychology of returning to the office, or the psychology of recovering from burnout, or any of the things that I love to talk to teams about, innovation, creativity, breaking the business cycle or any of my other topics, reach out to Randy, R-A-N-D-I at Dr. Robin McKee dot com, and let her know you'd like to set up a consult so that we can create a bespoke program for you and for your teams as well. Until next time, have a great one.

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