THE ANTIDOTE
BRANDHUMAN PRINCIPLE | PRacticing Presence & THE Industry Within
Why this, why now?
In this historic time, which is causing momentous shifts for all, it is important to reevaluate and reconnect with our value, asking how we can be of service and how to best offer your service to those around you.
Be equally conscious of what you put out as what you take in. Routines and rituals can make all the difference in staying grounded, and with so many offerings coming to your screens, it can be overwhelming or even distracting. Don’t forget that familiarity and what naturally connects with you can be a comfort, explore the depths of those facets and build daily routines for keeping your focus and connection. When trying new teachers and or techniques, tune into your own compass, find what resonates.
Practicing Presence is an important lesson to remember in this time. Come back to the present moment, witness what is coming up for you, and practice acknowledging it without it pulling you out of what is in front of you. How can your present moment leave more space for your curiosity?
There are no definite answers right now—find peace in the fact that this is a collective journey.
Most often we are surrounded by people: friends, family, co-workers, our communities, or strangers on the streets, but now we are asked to be with ourselves (or at least mostly). We have found digital ways to fill this void, but be aware of what you consume, as our inputs become our outputs. And in this high anxiety time it is important to hold ourselves accountable for the type of company we become. How do we want to show up right now? And who do we want to grow into through this adversity? Take this opportunity to be your own best companion. How are you adapting? What new learnings are you exposing yourself to?
BrandHuman Principle | Devotion
Today we turn to the principle of Devotion. Devotion, by definition, is love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. In practicing devotion we practice patience and presence, we become curious about others, something outside of or bigger than ourselves, and through this process, the practice becomes a form of worship. A form of observance to the collective.
Why this is significant right now is because as we witness our conversations (and even actions) driven by the anxieties of the present moment (crisis), we must allow room for questioning and curiosity. If we stay in a cycle of anxious dialogue, it keeps us from finding the more interesting and larger learnings from our surroundings and feelings.
When we ask questions, we stay curious. We continue to learn and take a perspective that isn’t so ego driven. Through questioning, we remain a student, and it is then that we notice how much we are part of—we are a part of a whole, one organism, the organism that is human. We are all in this moment together, observing that our individual choices do impact everyone, teaching us that health for one is health for all. With this perspective, we can find solace in our connections.
The Practice of Devotion | Lead with Questions
To place this thinking into your own practice, we urge you to consider leading with questions to reach more rich dialogue and opportunities to learn and grow. Below are questions we are considering and offer to you at this time for yourself and in dialogue with others:
What am I noticing?
What am I seeing that I didn’t see before?
What is bringing me joy?
What do I want to offer?
How can I be of service?
Who has shaped me to be the person I am today? (Have I let them know?)
How do I want to emerge from this moment?
Additionally, be devoted to your own practice, as we mentioned in yesterday’s Daily Antidote, rituals and routines are grounding and bring us back to the present moment. Stay devoted to this form of worship, love, loyalty, and enthusiasm for yourself. Devotion to self is devotion to others.
BrandHuman Principle | Love of Community
The simple fact is that we need one another to survive. Just as we explored yesterday through the principle of Devotion, we are one organism and we impact and depend on one another greatly. Love of Community: tribe, family, and friends are not just something we fall into, but a survival mechanism, developed throughout our history in our formation of tribes, in which we each play our part, fulfilling a role. Certainly something we are being called to now. How will you play your part?
The true magic of community is not just its ability to help us stay alive, but its ability to help us thrive and evolve. To choose communities we feel an affiliation with is to find belonging, and in belonging we find ourselves. We cannot find belonging with others until we find belonging within, as we must first know who we truly are to authentically belong. It is in this honest and shared belonging that we find true fellowship.
In fellowship we hold each other accountable by providing space to show up, to be seen, to learn new perspectives and skills, and to be challenged. Through the collective experience of this crisis we are called to listen to mother nature, the silence of the human footprint right now is spectacular. Practice deep listening toward a higher purpose that is asking us to come back to foundational ways of thinking, and rise toward a more accountable future for the survival of the planet and ourselves.
In this communal space of accountability we naturally evolve and when we can evolve we are adaptable, and adaptability ensures survival. Thus, evolution must become all of our new consistencies, and the lesson here is that we are not alone. We cannot survive nor thrive alone. And there is no reason to. We are better together, and if we can fully live in that reality, then we can adapt and evolve into a brighter future.
BrandHuman Principle | Evolution is the new consistency
Evolution is the only consistent thing. That’s what we need to remember in a moment like this, that we’re adaptable beings, constantly forced to reassess our approach, day by difficult day. Whenever I present a client with a strategy for how they’re going to speak to their community, I always stress that strategy is a living, breathing thing. It will adapt over time. It will bend and shift over the life of the brand, sometimes wildly.
So this is one of those times when we need to regroup. We need to step back and decide what is the best way to proceed. There is no rush. This is a learning moment, not something to capitalize on. Sure, we are all in survival mode, literally and from a business perspective. How will I carry on if my customers disappear? But customers are temporary. Community is more permanent. If you show up in a way that is helpful today, people will remember it after the storm has passed.
How can I serve? It’s the first question to ask when you’ve come to a place that feels impossible. Think about serving first, selling a little later. You’re going to sound pretty tone deaf if you go straight for the sales copy. “Buy this,” is not what people want to hear right now. If you’re always thinking about serving, about doing the hard work of consistently pushing things forward in ways that align with your values, then your community will respond energetically and the selling part will follow naturally. In due time. Remember, markets like to move toward a happy equilibrium. Everything will calm down and even out eventually. And when it does, you won’t be the jerk who tried to sell someone an expensive case of champagne the week they lost their job.
Read the room. Let your community lead you right now. Let them tell you what they need, what their challenges are. Some of them are going to want to go full speed ahead. Others will want to use the downtime for foundationing. Some will need to pause altogether. Make sure your tone is sensitive to the mood of the moment without changing who you are completely. People want some things to feel normal. They want the you they’ve always known, just in a different context. With a new shade of sensitivity.
Nothing is certain. It never was. The only constant was change, always. And yet, we’re always so surprised when things shift. Humans, we are.
- Cristina Black