The Best of Times

Stoic Quote of the Week:

The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make of it.

--Marcus Aurelius 

What I learned this week:

I remind myself daily and really multiple times throughout the day, that I have the ability to choose how things affect me. This is a powerful concept to grasp that will change your perspective on everything. It reminds me of the old saying, “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” I’ve heard that phrase for as long as I can remember but I never realized what it truly meant. It means, you can choose to be upset and fret about the loss of the milk or even a broken glass, or you can choose to take positive action from it. Learn from the miss, practice your clean up techniques, see if Bounty really is the quicker picker-upper or study the pattern of flow of the milk on the counter. The reality is, you get to choose. In dealing with multiple business closures, including quite possibly yours, you can choose what to do. If you are the owner or in a leadership position your team is looking to you for answers and what to do. If you aren’t the owner or in a leadership position, this is when your team needs you to step up and be the leader that the team needs. No matter your position in the organization, you can have an effect on the organizations ability to not only survive but thrive. On the personal side, what can you take advantage of? Guess what, you are no longer commuting to work. You just got gifted an extra hour of your day back. What are you going to do with that?

The best is yet to come, if you choose it to be the best.

Planning thought of the week:

Being prepared can seem like too much time and effort that isn’t worth the ROI. I’m guessing if you weren’t prepared for some sort of continuity of operations or hadn’t thought through some of the now real world scenarios we are living in, you have been thrown for a loop. Planning and preparation is always a tough measure to determine the value of it until you need it. I recommend you look at planning and preparation like insurance. There was a time when having car insurance was optional, now it is mandatory. I’m sure you also have insurance on your house and very likely health and life insurance. On the business side, you have liability insurance, workman’s compensation and unemployment insurance. Spend some time and prepare for the unexpected. Consider it business success insurance.

Business idea I heard about or thought of:

Who is cleaning and disinfecting buildings and facilities? Cleaning services are nothing new. I see this as a newfound opportunity to either start a cleaning service or shift your current cleaning service to not just cleaning but office decontamination and disinfection. COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and we will need to go back to some office work. If I had the assurance that the conference room I was renting had been cleaned and disinfected prior to my team having a meeting, I would feel much more comfortable about it as would my team.

Veteran opportunity of the week:

The VA and Coronavirus, here is the link to VA and government resources, https://www.publichealth.va.gov/n-coronavirus/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_campaign=Coronavirus

If you haven’t set up you’re my HealtheVet account, I highly recommend you do it now!

Someone I met this week:

Physical isolation makes it difficult to connect with new people, but it isn’t difficult to get re-acquainted with people that are in your contacts’ list. This week I had the opportunity to chat with Pratt as he coached me to prep for a webinar we were doing together through Ace Up. I’ve done a lot of public speaking over the years to large, small and virtual groups. Pratt coached my to deliver a concise message about my tip for negotiating out of crisis in 2 ? minutes. Excellent advice and direction. Thanks for the help Pratt.

Link to current The Cam & Otis Show podcast, Ep. 35: Professional Athlete Work Ethic in Business with James Paterson: https://thecamandotisshow.buzzsprout.com/506248/3081634-ep-35-professional-athlete-work-ethic-in-business-with-james-paterson

Thank you for your support.