Transition Zones = Fear Zone, Learning Zone, and Growth Zone

What zone are you in?

While writing this most people I know are in the fear zone. I think we’ll continue to be fearful as long as the virus is actively spreading and killing more people. This is normal. Fear has survival value. If people weren’t afraid they would be out making the situation worse by getting and spreading the virus.

Let’s use our stay at home time to build a better future.

Just because we’re fearful doesn’t mean we can’t enter the learning zone. In the safety of our homes we can acquire new knowledge that will be useful for the future. During Covid-19 most of us have a lot of extra time, let’s use that time wisely. Let’s create the things we never had time to create. While we may not have the resources we need for many projects, we can still work on improving our future. Don’t let the thing you can’t do stop you from doing the things you can do? Don’t let a lack of resources stop you from doing something.

It’ll be interesting to see what people do with the extra time they are given during this crisis. Will they squander it watching television or obsessively consuming toxic news, or will they work at something more productive.

We’re all in different zones depending on our own unique situation. Some people will have little choice but to stay in the fear zone for a good deal longer. Others will quickly go into the learning zone, still others will have or find the resources to enter the growth zone. Some people still have jobs. That is a blessing, not all of us are that fortunate. Still others have enough savings to see them through the tough times.

However, many Americans are basically living paycheck to paycheck. Paycheck to paycheck households make up much of the infrastructure of our economy. They are a little like slaves that everyone depends on. When the slave class cannot produce, the system will collapse. If all the slaves become homeless or get sick, it will do no one any good. The best reason to help the less fortunate is that in the long run it will help those on top. Sometimes we may need a narrative of helping and sharing to reclaim a state of unprecedented profits.

Usually I think of the growth zone as a time when we are creating surplus to save and develop wealth. However, during this time of need I am thinking growth also includes helping to keep our culture and communities functioning. This includes our local, state, and national systems of supply as well as the greater economy, while maintaining law and order. To accomplish a post Covid-19 recovery it may be necessary to help others, even if we’re not directly profiting from it. If we can contribute to making the system even a little more stable, it will help us all in the long run. A stable system is what allows individuals and companies to thrive and profit.

During this time of crises we need to use our higher nature to override our animal-like fear and greed in a healthy and useful way. We should remain fearful to a degree that it is helpful to our own survival and the survival of culture (society.) However, it may be necessary to control the fear induced greed that in the short term seems good for us, but hurts the socioeconomic system we’re all going to need post Covid-19. When stability is reached and a new normal emerges, our communities need to be as strong as possible. The stronger the community is, the more likely it is that you will prosper. This is true for hourly workers as well as those who have businesses.

All of our behavior is rooted in traits that had survival value for humans throughout our history. Let us use the fear zone where it will be most useful, the learning zone to our benefit, and the growth zone when the time is right.

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