Five Simple Questions For Self-Evolution During Quarantine

Let’s face it: social distancing sucks. We all benefit from being around other people. Long term isolation is difficult for the vast majority of people

We’re only four months into this Pandemic with no end in sight, and people are getting exhausted. We miss our coffee shops, restaurants, and gyms. We miss our parties and social events. We miss being able to travel to foreign countries.

But alas, here we are. The virus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and we being forced to live very differently lives.

It is normal to complain and feel annoyed. It is normal to get depressed, anxious, or stir crazy.

But after a certain point, we need to move on. We can’t stay stuck in our negative cycles. We need to accept our circumstances, and evolve to find happiness in spite of our challenges.

Perhaps there are different, more optimistic ways to look at our lives during a Pandemic.

After all, social distancing is just a set of new constraints. There are a lot of things that we can’t do as result of these enforced boundaries, but perhaps quarantine opens up new possibilities that weren’t available to us before.

The theory of evolution states that organisms adapt to their environment under changing circumstances. If an ecosystem undergoes a significant adjustment, the local plants and animals must adapt in order to survive.

Thus, we can look at Coronavirus as a dramatic change in our collective ecosystem. We are forced to change — we have no other choice; it is literally a matter of health and survival.

We have already adapted. Even the most anti-mask, Hydroxychloroquine-touting conspiracy theorists have been forced to change, as local businesses demand compliance with health regulations.

But our adaptions have led to a lifestyle where many of us aren’t happy. Now we need to continue to evolve in order to thrive amid these radically different circumstances.

I believe that questions are the best way to help people find the answers in their own lives, so I came up with a simple list of questions to support and further your personal evolution during COVID-19.

My hope is that these questions inspire new ideas, new perspectives, and ideally, induce positive changes in your life.

As always, I would love to hear feedback.

Here we go!

1. What is currently working in your life?

When things are difficult, it is easy to get pessimistic. It feels like nothing is working. But that is never actually true; something has to be functioning correctly. Even if it’s just the fact that you have running water.

If you challenge yourself to find one thing that is working correctly or bringing you happiness, you are likely to notice other things as well.

Try to express gratitude for what you already have.

2. Where do you have momentum or a sense of direction?

I recently read Smartcuts by Shane Snow, where he described the phenomenon of billionaires, celebrities, and astronauts who become massively famous, rich, or successful, and subsequently, utterly miserable.

They felt that they had hit the peak of their lives and there was nothing left to do. Life lost its meaning and purpose.

In order to get these uber-successful people back on their feet, psychologists encouraged them to find a sense of direction with something and just do it. It didn’t have to be continued career success; they just needed to find a new skill or passion project and start working on that. Biking, cooking, or maybe martial arts.

And it succeeded. Taking action got them out of the funk.

If you are unhappy right now, you might feel like you don’t have direction, or a sense of meaning. Again, I’d encourage you to take a look again. What have you been working on over the past five years? How have you spent your time? Where has life guided you?

Oftentimes, the answer is right in front of us, and we are looking in all of the wrong places.

With momentum and direction, you will regain your mojo and dive forward.

3. What is obvious? What do you know for sure?

When life changes rapidly, it can feel like we are stuck in a cloud of uncertainty. We don’t know who we are anymore, and we feel ungrounded.

One very effective way to reground is by calming down and stop trying to figure everything out. You don’t need to solve all of your existential questions overnight.

Instead, focus on what you already know: what activities do you absolutely love doing? Who do you trust completely? What places feel like home?

For example, I know for sure that California is my spiritual home, and I feel 1000% comfortable living here. It is obvious. I don’t have to spend time thinking about it.

When we concentrate on what we already know, other more difficult questions become easier to answer as well.

4. Who are you surrounding yourself with? More importantly, who should you surround yourself with?

If you want to regain a sense of control over your life, you need to be incredibly conscious about who you spend time with.

Negative people will drag us down, optimistic people will lift us up. Smart people will make us smarter. Ethical people will make us more ethical.

If something feels off in your life, it’s probably time to change up your social circle.

Find the people who are already in your life, exerting a positive influence, and spend more time with them.

5. What information are you consuming? How can you improve?

As they say in data science, garbage in, garbage out. If you consume fear mongering click bait articles, you are likely going to be anxious. If you watch political news all day long, you probably won’t be able to think about anything else.

Think back to a book, a video, or an article where you felt awesome or intellectually stimulated when you read it. Then, go consume more information like that, and let go of the negative garbage.

To close out, even though things are hard, we need to find ways to regain a sense of control over our lives. We could aimlessly waste our lives during COVID-19. Alternatively, we could use this time to become happier, more successful people.

If you can be happy during quarantine, imagine how great life will be when society opens up again!

Let’s take control of our lives together and find ways to thrive even amid adversity.