COVID-19 has made many feel a loss of control over their daily lives. While some aspects remain beyond our control, we do have power over determining our own success through our behavior and actions. Here are 5 simple behavioral modifications that can help you not only survive during challenging times like these—but thrive.

#1 “Showing Up”

This doesn’t mean just physically appearing in your designated box on the Zoom meeting—it means actually being “present”. In the digital work-from-home life it’s easy to get distracted or be thinking about the next thing on your to-do list. Of course, we all fall into these traps from time to time, we are human after all. Ultimately, however, the multi-tasking makes us feel more frantic and stressed and we miss important things when we’re not fully present and engaged.

Showing up isn’t limited to work meetings either. We need to ask ourselves, “Are we working from home, or living at work?” Think about that one for a second…work has taken over our living space. Many people are working from desks in bedrooms or kitchen tables—spaces that were not intended for work. Showing up means being present for your family too. The phone doesn’t need to be at the dinner table or distracting you when your child or spouse is trying to connect with you through a story about their day.

#2 Being on Time

Yes, we’re in back-to-back meetings. Yes, it’s hard to be on time. But is being on time important too? YES! Why is being on time so important? It shows the person on the other end you care about them and respect—because they’re busy too. We’re all late sometimes, but a quick courtesy text or email that you’re running over is all that it takes to make someone feel respected.

It seems like such a small thing, but tardiness can set the tone for an entire conversation. Set expectations when you’re on back-to-back calls that you have hard stops to keep control of your time. Block out time for lunch and other essentials to make sure you’re not only on time for others, but also for yourself.

#3 Being Empathetic

Everyone has their own personal struggles (some just hide it better than others), but in these times a small dose of empathy can go a long way. Some of us are lonely, some of us are overwhelmed, some of us have babies impacting our sleep, others have worries about the future weighing us down.

Approaching each communication with empathy is something you have complete control over and it can have a positive impact on both personal and professional exchanges. The more you learn to see other people, the more you learn about both them and yourself.

#4 Being Introspective

Sure, you’re good at your job, but you can always be better! Sometimes it’s hard to take a step back and evaluate a situation to see how you could contribute to a different outcome, but it’s so important for personal growth. Many of us have had more time with our thoughts lately and perhaps the introspection hasn’t been so healthy, but try re-positioning, and instead of beating yourself up, identify ways you want to personally change—and do it!

Talk about your thoughts with others. If you share “Hey - this meeting didn’t go the way I wanted. What could we have done better?”, now you’ve invited someone else’s opinion and got them thinking about how our own behavior can influence outcomes. And you are creating a safe environment to share and make improvements as a team, because typically it’s a group communication breakdown at fault rather than any one person.

#5 Being Goals-Oriented

You have complete and total control over establishing, perusing, and achieving goals. A lot of things got “put on hold” with COVID, but your goals shouldn’t be one of them. Sure, they might take longer, and the path might take a different route than you had initially intended but make a plan and start achieving. You are in control of your own success, don’t let external factors dictate YOUR future.

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