Pivot. Resiliency. Nimble. Refocusing. How to Rebuild and Move Forward

Words have power.

In the face of this pandemic; can words really describe the realities that many people have faced? Early on in the pandemic, I read that “this has ripped away the myth of certainty” And that has been true for everyone and what has been revealed is unique to each situation.

As humans, some of us a geared towards risk taking, getting ourselves out of tight spots, able to quickly re-imagine a future and to act on that vision. Others, this past year has put them into a tailspin and they are still coping with the new realities. Change has as many forms as snowflakes and the impacts are equally as wide ranging.

A few months ago, I heard an interview with Margaret Heffernan on her new book Uncharted. I’ve included a quote from her and it is so timely and insightful.

“We are addicted to prediction, desperate for certainty about the future. But the complexity of modern life won’t provide that; experts in forecasting are reluctant to look more than 400 days out. History doesn’t repeat itself and even genetics won’t tell you everything you want to know. Ineradicable uncertainty is now a fact of life. In complex environments, efficiency is a hazard not a help; being robust is the better, safer option.”

Here is the interview from WBUR and On Point https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/09/09/embracing-the-uncertainty-of-a-pandemic

The interview is not just about the Pandemic, it’s about change and finding a new path forward. Living in the Greater Portland area, the motto of the city can serve as a reminder, Resurgam, Latin for I Shall Rise Again. This past year has allowed so much opportunity to reflect and reconfigure.

Heading into 2020, most leaders in Real Estate believed that the overall housing market was beginning to turn from a Sellers Market to a Buyers Market. The Pandemic, shifted so much for so many people and so swiftly. It is profound, how many people are on the move and due to everything from new opportunities to impending loss of home.

Take some time to listen to the interview with Margaret Heffernan and think about the power of change and the Uncharted.