Corona - is it all doom and gloom?

Do you remember when you first learned about COVID-19?

For me, it was about 2-3 months ago. It sounded scary enough to catch my attention, but I forgot about it pretty quickly - it was something so far away, so distant from my day-to-day life, it just didn’t seem important enough to focus on at the time.

Who could’ve known or even suspected that a few months later, all of our lives would be completely upended by this disease?

That we’d be stuck in our homes, unable to see our families, to travel, to work, to finish school?

And yet, it happened.

In fact, it’s very much still happening - and no one knows for sure when exactly it will all end or what the future will bring.

BUT

I do believe it will end - we see so many people taking action, companies donating their resources and their money, communities brought together by this threat even when we can’t even interact with each other face to face.

When you see all of this, it’s impossible not to feel hope and even see the positive sides of this diseases’ psychological effects on our world: in these challenging and unpredictable times, so many are stepping up to do what they can to help themselves and others.

Fortunately, no-one in my family has contracted the virus yet. And for that, I’m extremely grateful.

However, I still massively feel the impact of this virus every day.

I don’t know when we’ll be able to see my husband (we live in Israel and he normally commutes, travelling back and forth.) As he’s part of the emergency services he went to the UK on Wednesday and we have no idea when he’ll be able to return. Living with this uncertainty is not easy for anyone. I’m so proud of my husband and all the thousands of people like him, who are putting their lives on the line every day by dealing with the effects of this virus and therefore risking getting it themselves.

Like many of you, I’m sure, I’m constantly concerned about my close family, all of which are in the UK: my elderly parents and my sister who has a weak immune system.

And of course, I’m a small business owner. And like all business owners, my business has been hit by this virus as well. No one is immune.

I’ll be honest, I broke down for a couple of days. It’s so difficult not to, considering all the doom and gloom that you can see all around you, every time you go online or you open up the TV.

It’s so easy to feel like the world is ending when so many people are dying, when millions of people are losing their jobs, stock markets are collapsing and so many businesses are going into bankruptcy.

But the world is not ending - it’s just hitting a very rough patch. A very unpredictable and scary one, yes - but still just a patch.

We still have some things we can control. I can control (or attempt to!) how I’m feeling and work (and it takes me huge work!) to overcome this fear and make good use of all this ‘free’ time. As much as I love Netflix and it’s so tempting to binge-watch, I’ve made the decision that I’m going to use this time wisely and focus on my business. Because, when (not if) this passes, those that take action and leverage this time will succeed in the long term.

Here are some tips I’m using to help me, I hope they help you in some way:

• First of all, and most importantly, stay safe: #StayTheFuckHome. Seriously. The more people that stay home, the quicker this will go. Wash your hands constantly, disinfect frequently used surfaces, listen only to official news sources in your country and don’t go visit your family, particularly if they are elderly or have other health issues
• Focus on what YOU can do: it’s easy to get lost in all the news and updates about the coronavirus pandemic, but there’s nothing you can do about that except for staying safe (see the previous point). So take the time to think about yourself, about what you can do to make your life better. If you can’t control it, try not to worry about it too much and focus instead on what you can actually do yourself. What can you still control? For example, I’ve been meditating daily and watching motivational/inspiring videos. These two habits which I start the beginning of my day with, are massively helping me stay focused and calmer.
• Cut unnecessary costs: if you haven’t already, take a very close look at all of your spending and cut any unnecessary costs. This is, probably the easiest thing to do right now, as remember, you’re #StayingTheFuckHome.
• Find new income and revenue streams: this is a time to get creative and try to make money in different ways. Luckily, we have the Internet - and the Internet provides a lot of money-making opportunities. Stay tuned as I’m currently working on a 15,000+ word epic guide on how to make money online with blogging - there will be 20 different monetization strategies discussed in detail so that you can find a solution that works for your business model and start making money ASAP, even in this environment
• Tackle the projects you’re always putting off: you know what I’m talking about - all those projects you’ve kept putting off over the years, all those ideas you got that you forgot about, now you have the time to focus on them. It could be creating a new product or service, or improving existing ones; it could be implementing a new system; or it could even be a new business idea. Sure, you might not be able to put them all into practice right now but at some point, this crisis will end and life will go on, once again - why not be one of those who’ll be ready when that finally happens?
• Think of others: this is a time when community is more important than ever, even if we can’t even see each other or touch each other. Don’t bulk buy more than you need, help your employees over this trying period as much as you can, try to help those near you who are struggling - older people, people who can’t get supplies and so on

I genuinely believe that as bad as this situation might be right now, it doesn’t mean that you have to put your life on hold. We will all come out stronger and better than before. The journey will be challenging, it’s not going to be easy and it might even get worse. We are all being tested beyond our imagination and stretched past our (perceived) limits. But we will overcome this. Together.

So be safe, stay strong and focus on what you can do to succeed even when succeeding feels impossible.

Lilach

PS Not everything is cancelled...

Sun is not cancelled

Spring is not cancelled

Relationships are not cancelled

Love is not cancelled

Reading is not cancelled

Devotion is not cancelled

Music is not cancelled

Imagination is not cancelled

Kindness is not cancelled

Conversations are not cancelled

Hope is not cancelled