A couple of weeks. And already how quickly the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread across the globe. It’s interesting to see how different people are responding. As with everything else, there only truly two ways to respond. Either with love or with fear. I’m sure if you had to go to the supermarket to stock your pantry in the last month or so you’ve seen plenty of this fear out in the world. People stockpiling toilet paper and clearing off the shelves of all types of alcohol and cold and pain and fever reducers. And honestly, trying to even get a package of chicken breasts felt like one of the greatest accomplishments of the day. But when we truly consider where we are in the world there’s always another choice.
And like anything else, whatever you’re looking for is what you’ll find.
For those of us who choose to come from love, this is, and continues to feel like, the greatest test of our time. Now what do I mean by that?
Coronavirus (COVID-19): The Greatest Test of our Time
It’s funny being in a world where so many people say they want to start new businesses. They say that they want freedom of time. Every time I speak to a fledgling business owner or side hustler they tell me that one of the things that entrepreneurship is going to get them is full ownership of their time and their agenda. They talk about wanting to spend time with her loved ones. Wanting to cook more, and spend more time with their children. Everyone’s looking for that work-from-anywhere lifestyle.
We used to live in a world where government employees couldn’t figure out how to set up a remote town hall meeting. And where bosses were still hung up on “No one’s going to do any work if I can’t see them somehow.” This last month, all the things that were impossible in our former world are now completely possible, and even encouraged in our present world.
We’ve watched as entire school districts have found ways to educate children from the safety of a computer screen. We’ve watched as somehow New York City figured out a way to feed its homeless student population even if the public school system was no longer operational. Somehow we figured out how to get millions of non-essential workers to work from home. And somehow we’ve also found an opportunity to cook, and sit down and have meals with our family and loved ones, and to have conversations that are probably (definitely) long overdue.
Innovation is Born in a Demanding Situation
I’m currently enrolled in a mastermind with Bo Eason. Bo is a former NFL football player, a tremendous actor, a genuine and authentic and completely open human being. And one of the things that I’ve learned in my time in his program is that people (and by people I mean all people, humans) tend to show our true colors and our best selves when we’re faced with a demanding situation. When we are forced to evaluate how we’ve been thinking, how we’ve been approaching our lives, and coming up with something new.
In a demanding situation Innovation is born, creativity is fostered. There’s a fire under our butts for new collaboration and ways to connect. Problems get solved when the situation demands it, when it’s no longer optional. When we suddenly realize that the air that I breathe is the same air that you breathe. And maybe we actually need each other in order to thrive on this planet. With Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the air, it’s about time.
What are you Waiting for?
If you’re reading this from the comfort of your home and maybe scrolling on your laptop, or reading from your mobile device then I want you to know it’s about time. All the things that you said you’ve wanted to do and be, get to happen now. Because honestly what are you waiting for? The way the local ShopRite looks, one might tell you it’s the Zombie apocalypse, the end of the world. But isn’t everyday a potential end of the world?
Now feels like a great time to live like there’s no tomorrow.
If you look at the Coronavirus (COVID-19) recommendations from the CDC and the World Health Organization they’re telling us all the things that every wellness practitioner has been telling us for years. Drink alkaline water, wash your hands, eat more fruits and vegetables, keep exercising, find time to meditate and reflect. Health is always in fashion but it seems like it’s only when someone threatens to take it away that we want to pay attention. What else haven’t we been paying attention to?
I hope all of you out there are journaling about your experience sheltering in with those that you love, and maybe even with those who you’ve barely liked. I’m already envisioning the memoirs that are going to be published in the next 6 months. I am already smiling about all the babies that are going to be born in the next nine months. I’m actually excited about all the new businesses and ideas and innovations that are going to come to the market. All because all of us on the entire globe have been put in a demanding situation. This is where leaders thrive. Where leaders are not just born but are re-imagined. And I truly hope all of you are taking up the call.
Good enough just isn’t good enough anymore
There are only two choices: to come from fear or to come from love. And whatever it is and wherever you’re coming from there’s also an opportunity to seek out the same. You go looking for fear, I guarantee you’ll find it. And that discomfort, that fear, is the very thing you don’t want. But in this time we have such an opportunity to come from love, to seek love. We get to find solutions together, to partner, to seek out connection, and to finally make the world a better place.
Because good enough just isn’t good enough anymore. Instead of thinking about the business of your dreams or the lifestyle of your dreams, all of us get to imagine the world of our dreams. And make of it whatever we choose to, from a place of love. And it’s all because of this demanding situation of Coronavirus (COVID-19), not in spite of. It’s all perfect and glorious.
Book a free Discovery session with me!
If it sounds like the kind of conversation you want to have, grab a free coaching session with me. I’m currently doing Discovery sessions to explore with people what it feels like to really think outside of the box of what we’ve known, of what we’re seeing everyday in the news, and re-imagine the world of your dreams. I’d love to talk to you.
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