I recently had a #DistancedDinner with my family. These are the best morsels (and privileges) of the week since human contact is now a big decision. Many ideas were passed around carelessly, unlike the food at the table. Mentions included businesses lagging, some adapting or pulling ahead, and local friends/merchants experiencing woes. One that stood out was my sister mentioning some teachers being barraged with parents emailing and calling them to ensure their kids are getting proper screen time and “do not fall behind...".
Very narrowly, there are many one-dimensional representations of ‘actions’ that have not occurred and are therefore ‘behind’ because of Coronavirus(i.e. lost seasonal retail sales, concert revenue, non-essentials). Those are not coming back and I believe myself along with a healthy majority of people understand this via supply and demand. On a more complex level, to be behind to those parents may reflect the lack of future value and opportunity that their kid could achieve given the proper guidance and preparation in the present. As someone who has felt this entanglement of emotion before, being ‘Behind’ is the psychological recognition of a gap between you and an entity that compounds into a feeling of inadequacy. When deconstructing the relationship between you and things one must always consider the difference in reference points between people. Even when recognizing this, it is mind numbing to try and take the weights of all forms in the system when making comparisons.
I sympathize with the parents of kids in K-12th grade as these times are crucial in the development stage of critical thinking for youth. These parents of all classes are coming to a realization with school in the fall that their kid will receive a drastically different ‘product’ than that of one they received decades ago. This sinking feeling is not unique to only these parents. This is related to everyone’s cumulative uncertainty with the current state of entropy with our nation and globe. Adam Grant asserts in his most recent Saturday opinion piece that ‘resilience’ and perseverance can be overcome in these new, isolated times with introspective reflection. Put very simply,
We have the power to invert ourselves and our communities in positive ways during change. The gravity of the situation has thrown off our nation’s economy, equilibrium, and Overton window. I would go on record to bet that a majority of people/businesses have flirted with the description above for ‘feeling behind’ in the past 3 months. This feeling is illustrated in Morgan Housel’s recent post, Acceptable Flaws. Recognition of our powers and flaws are necessary to come to a more complete understanding of ones dreams and purpose.
For those young and with flexibility and leverage – there is a pressure on you that has not been felt before. A series of expectations set through the status-quo have been bestowed to you from the beginning. Hopefully, these expectations deteriorating has led you to think and understand your real ‘ambitions’ in life. I recommend that if you are given the unique opportunity to learn, challenge and invert yourself creatively via a learning-plan, platform, or institution other than the traditional school system – Do it. If you want to get lost in some philosophical musings, I encourage you to listen to Naval’s interview with Kapil Gupta. This will teach you how to cancel out society’s white noise and focus on your true desires.
There are, of course, many instances in which the motivation above will not move people. I wish it were that easy and I believe we all wish that. There is “nothing like a crisis to make it clear who is good during a crisis” (ChristopherMims). People are suffering and this is a tragedy. Nationwide condolence is going to be necessary for months to come. When those ‘above’ us leave us mentally famished with questions and no answers, we understand that it is only ourselves that are in full command of our future. Help out your community if given the opportunity. Support local businesses if possible. Be transparent and flexible because we are all trying to find solutions to not only help ourselves, but others during this time.
Understand that in order to first feel ‘behind’ you must first input a comparison into your equation. When doing this - even it if is out of competition for the betterment of yourself vs the competition - always remember that...
"Comparison is the thief of joy" - Theodore Roosevelt.
Best,
BSBA Marketing Research | Minors Data Analytics & Spanish