Why being able to go with the flow is a necessary skill in the new world?
Skills such as being productive, results oriented and ability to meet deadlines are common and extremely desired. Letting things run its course is classified as spiritual jargon, something out of monk school or which you would associate with the Dalai Lama. Yet, the spiritual industry is a multi-billion money making machine. With the advent of artificial intelligence and developments in automation and robotics, part of humanity will be rendered obsolete, professionally. What to do with our life then?
The COVID pandemic-induced confinement put a halt to the daily grind and the result was pure panic. Borders closed, ships stuck at sea, supplies in shortage, supply chains disrupted, cash flows threatened and life just changed. Aside from the economic downturn, we experienced an uneasy feeling: what is the next action?
Amid my introspective phase during the confinement period, I came to 2 realisations; Uno, I was fighting against life as it stands and duo, I was not alone in doing so. As a blatant example, how many of us strived to be productive and make the most of the time stuck at home. To-do lists are cornerstones of my life and my to-do list got even more ambitious. If not ridiculously impossible during lockdown.
We are all fully aware that life brings surprises; good and bad, yet we simply cannot stay put in the middle of chaos. As humans, we crave security and fidget with uncertainty. To cope with the fear of the unknown, going with the flow becomes a necessary skill. Not just for survival but to be able to succeed professionally. And if we are constantly reacting to very event or adverse situation, we are fighting to stay afloat and not thrive. Knowing when to act and when to stay put is absolutely crucial.
Lost your job? The obvious course of action is to update your CV, get in touch with recruiters, network and activate alerts on job postings. Laudable course of action, if you ask me. But what if three weeks to a couple of months down the line you see no response? You keep fighting. That should be a clue to go with a flow for a couple of days, stop fighting life and rethink your strengths. Maybe it is time to start your business or maybe it is time to learn a new course.
Same for a business: stagnating or operations slowed. it is time to ask the deeper questions and rethink the strategy. What are you providing? could you use the same skills or resources to pivot into something the world need? For example, property developers who turned to the import of masks.
As the only driver of our life, being able to know when we are fighting an uphill battle and when to let life lead us is a necessary assessment. To go with the flow is to get out of our comfort zone, to listen to what the world needs and how we can become that person fulfilling those needs.
