Intentional Life Planning during COVID-19 presents its fair share of challenges—really, it’s challenging to plan anything without knowing when or if there will be a vaccine for this coronavirus.
Recently I had an interesting conversation with my friend Norene Gonsiewski, LCSW, who suggested we all ask ourselves:
“How do I want this pandemic to change me?”
Norene said, “If I don’t come out of this having changed as a result of this pandemic, then I haven’t learned anything from it.”
What has changed you during this Time of COVID-19? What changes do you want to keep and carry with you?
It’s a good time for all of us to do some writing around this question. Open your journal, pull out a sheet of paper, or start a document on your computer. Take 30 minutes to do a free-write prompted by this paragraph:
The pandemic will end, and we don’t want to look back scratching our heads asking, “What was that all about?” There are things we are learning right now we want to carry forward. Do we need to burn as much carbon? Do we need to frantically run around from one thing to the next the way we did pre-pandemic? What insights have you gained about yourself, your human connections, and about living generally that you want to act on and keep going forward?
I’m a big believer in cognitive journaling as a way to access your thoughts, soul and wishes—thus the title of my book, “Write, Open, Act: An Intentional Life Planning Workbook.” Once you identify what you want to get out of life, you can use Intentional Life Planning to help achieve it!
Norene offers couples counseling online. Her blog post last month, “How to Get on the Same Page During This Stressful Time: The Weekly Dialogue Date,” may also be helpful to you. Her book, “Rock Solid Relationship: Seven Keys to Restore Your Connection & Make Your Love Last,” is available here.
Let’s remember all the souls who have been lost during this pandemic, the families and friends who have been impacted, and be sure to use our time wisely and with intention.
Lee Weinstein is a former Nike public relations leader who is now an entrepreneur. He has worked for a United States congressman and two Oregon governors and served on numerous nonprofit boards of directors. He and his wife, Melinda, developed the Intentional Life Planning process in 2000. His article “The Restless Soul in the Bathroom Mirror” was published in The New York Times.
Create your Intentional Life Plan now! Check out Lee’s “Write, Open, Act” workbook, also featured in The New York Times, for step-by-step details on how to create the life you want.
