The Coronavirus May Instill Fear In Business Owners, But You Can Switch Your Mindset With These Simple Ideas

How We Typically Prepare in Crisis

None of us were ready for COVID-19. Not in our businesses nor our personal lives. How were we to know that from a single city in Eastern China, the entire world would push the pause button as it dove into one of the most wide-spread pandemics in human history?

That said, it’s happening and has been happening, and there isn’t a whole lot we can do to stop it other than following all the processes and rules.

But should we be maniacally washing our hands still? Yes. Should we be social distancing and even isolating completely if need be? Yes. We should, obviously. As a human race, we should continue to take all the necessary and obligatory precautions to do our bit to help flatten the curve, even though the death toll continues to rise and businesses are beginning to open back up.

This is the physical, action-based approach to the Coronavirus crisis. But what about the psychological approach? The spiritual approach?

Protecting The Asset

In times like these, I like to look at what the best minds and most successful people on the planet are doing right now, and what they seem to have in common is that they’re doing this one thing first.

Despite their multi-million dollar companies crashing, despite their new business ventures going kerplunk, despite revenue dropping by 70 percent or more; they’re protecting the asset.

And by that, I mean protecting their wellbeing.

At the end of the day, without your wellbeing, what can you possibly have left? What can you really do anyway?

The best way to protect the asset isn’t a firey, action-based, left-brain process. It’s more holistic than that. It’s taking the mind, body, and spirit into deep, personal consideration.

The Animalistic Illusion of Safety

Let’s be frank, protecting the asset is not the usual normal response; as humans, we are more likely to dive into animalistic fear and competition. You know the feeling when the pandemic first hit: ‘A PANDEMIC? WHAT CAN I HOARD? WHERE’S THE HAND SANITIZER? WHERE’S THE TOILET PAPER?’

But that’s likely not going to save you.

It’s just an illusion of some kind of safety for you and your family, some kind of an upper hand on your neighbor who failed to get to the supermarket on time. And although most of us would feel ashamed about those thoughts, it’s also understandable. We all want to feel like we’re safe and sound.

But these actions also instill fear. And that, if anything, will be the start of our demise. So instead we must take a different approach.

Focus on Asking Better Questions

What works better is to look within ourselves and ask:

• What do my mind and body really need right now?
• How do my loved ones/colleagues/neighbors need me to show up for them?’
• What example could humanity benefit from witnessing in this present moment?

The answers tend to be a lot more on the spiritual side than you might have imagined..

I love this whole concept of protecting the asset. Think about that first. Many of you reading this have big responsibilities in life and you need to rise to the occasion. Stop for a moment to seriously think about your wellbeing and you will see that this will have ripple effects on your business and personal life.

A Call To Action For All Leaders

Deep down, we all want to rise at this time. We want to be the best we can be for ourselves, our loved ones, and our colleagues who keep our companies afloat. And as people begin to recognize that the key to serving and leading others starts with our wellbeing, we’ll begin to see major shifts in the way we work together.

Right now, there are a lot of highly successful CEOs turning collective fear on its head.

Instead of feeding into the fear and assuming your business would surely crumble, or thinking this may be the worst month ever for your business, reverse that and embrace an unapologetically positive mindset.

Recently I have heard a lot of CEOs and leaders asking the revolutionary question:

What if this was our best month ever?

Those Who Inspire Truly Lead

Can you even begin to imagine what this positivity would do to everyone around you?

What effect this would have on the peace of mind of those closest to you? How it would impact the faith, creativity, and productivity of your remote workforce?

Imagine the ripple effects this would have on the world.

Here’s my final question for you, one I hope every leader and every single individual with any form of influence asks themselves today.

What if you were the kind of person that rose during this time?

(This article is based on a Superhumans At Work podcast episode with Megan McNealy, written by Amy White.)