Have you noticed that most Zoom meetings start one of two ways?
Friendly banter. “Hey Lauren, why did you choose Tiger King as your virtual background?” “Oh my gosh, I need a haircut.” “Haha, not me. There are some advantages to being bald.”
Or, you jump right into the Zoom meeting agenda because “everyone’s so busy there’s no time to waste.”
No wonder we have Zoom fatigue.
Most of us are doing the best we can with what we have from where we are. We’re human beings navigating uncharted territory, experiencing the wild ride of emotions that shift by the minute. There’s not a lot of time to process. Most people I talk with are yearning for deeper conversation.
So, I’ve been thinking about an easy way to help you start your next Zoom meeting in a collective deep breath. Give people a minute to reflect on and share what’s on their minds. I hope you will give it a try and let me know how it goes.
An Easy Way to Start Your Next Zoom Meeting By Connecting a Level Deeper
Share this article with your team a day or so before the meeting.
Invite them to pick one of the quotations below that really resonates with them right now (or to bring a favorite quote of their own).
Then, start your Zoom meeting, but asking each person to share which quote they chose and why they find it valuable right now.
And watch the magical conversation unfold.
Inspirational Quotes For Difficult Times
Start here, or bring your own. In fact, I’d love for you to add your favorite to the list in the comments to give others even more choices.
Courage
“All courage is a threshold crossing. Often there is a choice: to enter the burning building or not, to speak the truth or not … But there is another sort of courage we are talking about here—the kind when afterward, the courageous are puzzled to be singled out as brave. They often say I had no choice.” -Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“I believe the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity … is daring to dare. – Maya Angelou
Perseverance
“Hang onto your hat. Hang onto your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.” -E.B. White
“Fall seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” -Margaret Thatcher
“Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.” -Amelia Earhart
“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword help in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of patter and a pitter. -J.R.R. Tolkien
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere or endure despite overwhelming obstacles.” -Christopher Reeve
Authenticity
“First tell yourself what kind of person you want to be, then do what you have to do.” -Epictetus
“If things start happening don’t worry, don’t stew. Just go right along you’ll start happening too.” – Dr. Seuss
“I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refused to be reduced by it.” -Maya Angelou
“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for good in the present moment; an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.” – Marcus Aurelius
Innovation
“There is a better way to do it. Find it.” -Thomas Edison
“The secret to change is to focus all your energy, not on figuring out the old, but on building this now.” -Socrates
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” -Duke Ellington
“In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” – Mister Rodgers
“The type of disruption most companies and government agencies are facing right now is a once-in-every-few-centuries-event … More than changes in technology, or channel, or competitors—it’s all of them all at once” (and this was said BEFORE this crisis, even more true now). -Steve Blank, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Stanford
“The most promising ideas begin from novelty and then add familiarity.” -Adam Grant
Shifting Perspective
“My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon.” -Minutia Masahide
“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing the small things, so all the small things go in the right direction.” -Alvin Toffler, Future Shock
“When the winds of change blow, some build walls and others build windmills.” -Chinese Proverb
Your turn.
What inspirational quote is speaking to you most now?