Half-empty, Half-full or Refillable

In the recent years, we have been told several times about the importance of growth mindset at work, in life and parenting. We were also told the importance of keeping a positive outlook towards life with the age-old concept of half-empty or half-filled glass. These very important concepts are supposed to be the foundation for success and resilience. However, the long-drawn battle against the pandemic is certainly taking a toil on everyone’s mental health, even as one mindfully practices making positive choices in her daily life. The once positive mindset may start to question about her choices for it is not taking her anywhere near the end of the tunnel. Working from home blurs the line between work and personal space; the reduction of face-to-face social interaction takes a toil on emotional health, especially for those who thrive and feed on social energy. Is the glass really half-full or is it half empty? What else is needed to see us through this long battle?

There have been several articles about how the extroverts are withering in current climate while the introverts are thriving in the current work-from-home or hybrid working mode. As an introvert, I have not questioned deeply into why so, assuming the intrinsic characteristics of these 2 buckets of people have made them just so. During a recent journalling exercise, I was reflecting on my energy level at work and reviewing how I had been coping with a recent change of work arrangements. I also compared my current work approach, time and energy management versus the last time i was at the brink of burn out. I made some discoveries about myself and how a whole new perspective could be adopted towards that half-full glass of water.

The New Perspective
Everyone has been talking about operating, living and working in the New Normal. As such, it makes perfect sense for us to look at the half-full glass with a new perspective – that we still have a glass!

While it may seem incredulous for me to say that, if we think through what the world has been going through the past 18 months, it is indeed logical for us to be grateful that the glass is still there and not broken. We are alive despite the long battle with the pandemic. We could be homeless, jobless or bankrupt when our business fold up. The new found sense of gratefulness is essential as we take the first step towards shifting our mindset because the New Normal requires us to operate in an entirely different mode. With the acceptance of the New Normal as the current reality, the survivor in us will naturally find improved ways to operate our business, or redesign our work processes to operate more efficiently in the new operating environment. As we overcome constraints and challenges, we also grow our emotional resilience.

So this new perspective will enable us to survive in the current reality.

The New Optimist
Having survived the current reality is only the first step. We need to continue to grow and adapt to the changes that may come, so that new grounds of achievements could be forged. For example, a new product or customer experience.

So the Optimist will say that the glass is half-full. There is always things on the bright side to focus on instead of focusing on what’s missing. Life is better when we focus on the positives and opportunities to make things better. Yet, there is so much one can focus on in that half-full glass, especially when constant disruptions from the pandemic threaten to topple the glass over, again and again. If we accept that the glass has that much of water, we may find ourselves constrained to operate with what we have, not knowing that we could create new opportunities.

As an introvert, I take conscious steps and planning of my time to ensure I have pockets of time within a day or week to allow myself to recharge. This is even more so when my days are packed with workshop facilitations, draining every ounce of energy from my veins. Failing to do so, I find myself stretching myself too thin, that I either ended being unproductive or have my closed ones dealing with my short temper. In the same light, we no longer have to accept that half-full glass of water. Instead, we could and should always remember that the glass is always refillable, just as how introverts typically find their own means to replenish their energy daily.

This New Optimist way of looking at that half-full glass is essential and equivalent to what we would have called the growth mindset. Whether as an entrepreneur or an innovator, it just means we are looking for hidden opportunities for change, such as a new creative product that consumers do not know they really need. This New Optimist will constantly look at means to refill his or her glass, finding new ways of working with the excess resources on their hand when consumer demand of their current offerings drop. They are no longer limited with just what they have to survive but also be future-ready.

Conclusion
The New Normal is here, whether we accept it or not. We could react to all that disruption with fear or to take courage to make a conscious decision to do something about it. Are you taking steps to refill your glass today?