History teaches us that life is unpredictable and the scale and far reaching impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) clearly demonstrates this. It has and will impact our lives directly or indirectly for the foreseeable future.

 

If you look at the panic buying that has taken place in recent weeks, it has shown what happens when fear and panic sets in. Empty supermarket shelves with limited regard for others is a sad indictment of human nature.

 

I acknowledge that it is hard to keep a sense of perspective, but it’s important that we do until the tide turns. My wish for you (and myself for that matter) is that you will be vigilant, exercise best practice and keep going in these uncertain times.

 

If we have met or you read my newsletters, I want to send you a special prayer of best wishes for the continued health and safety of your families and loved ones.

 

With this in mind I thought of five things that could help manage these unprecedented times and put the COVID-19 outbreak into perspective.

 

1) Take care of yourself – put your oxygen mask on first as we are frequently told by flight attendants before take-off.  Rest more, take those multivitamins that you bought with great intentions to boost your immunity, and get some exercise – even if it means going for a brisk walk.   It’s important that you strengthen your immunity and do your best to maintain your health as without that there is very little you can do.

2) Do that one thing you have been meaning to do.

This may be the time to get around to doing some of the things you have not had the time to attend to.  James Clear who wrote the excellent book, Atomic habits recently said, “In times of uncertainty, your habits can ground you.” I agree and think this is relevant even more so now. For me it’s to have a glass of water on my desk instead of coffee or tea. Alternatively, you could get around to completing that task that you keep procrastinating on. A friend of mine said, I’ve been reading, cleaned out the cupboards and now my apartment…”   Make a list and select only one.

3) How can you help your staff, team or suppliers? Do your own act of kindness. We have a cleaner, I called her and said, “don’t visit the property due to the corona virus, but we will still pay you for this month, we will have a chat next week.” As a small business owner, the income from every client counts. What note could you send, or call could you make to an employee, supplier or customer that could be reassuring but would be a sign of good will and also an investment in the value of the relationships long term.

4) Hard as this may be – imagine what this will be like when things get better? While walking this morning, the song, ” Imagine” by John Lennon popped into my head and the thought occurred to me that maybe this is a message that we need to imagine the future where we  can once again hug and kiss our families, shake someone’s hand,  shop and travel freely and socialise; where life resumes a degree of normality. This is not easy but it sure presents a different energy instead of focusing on empty shelves or receiving daily COV-19 updates of even more fatalities.  In Wuhan, life is returning to normal as the coronavirus outbreak slows, the same will happen here. When you are in the midst of any challenging times it is hard to imagine a better future, however the challenge is to try your best to do so.

5) Manage how much of the daily news you take in as this could magnify your anxiety. Try to stay positive and maintain a balanced perspective – as it is easy to be drowned by the news and all of the sad stories that we hear daily. There are hundreds of people stranded in various countries who have no idea when they will return home.  Although you may be isolated at home, be thankful that you are not miles away in a foreign country, maybe with limited fund and no certainty of when you will return.

In the meantime, stay well and stay safe.

Morton