NOW is the Time to Adjust your Focus

The coronavirus pandemic is here, and for many it dominates thoughts day-by-day, hour-by-hour, and minute-by-minute; but, perhaps it’s time to take a step back and focus on long term plans and goals as opposed to being so myopic, only looking at the next few days or weeks ahead of us. 

Try this exercise: Look out three months from now and ask yourself, “What do I want to do differently, and how can I use these next few months to get there?” Don’t wait for things to return to “normal” as an excuse to delay your start. Over the last two weeks, our lives have been stress-tested financially, physically, and emotionally. What have we learned, and what can we change or modify to be better prepared next time?

1.      Financially: Did you find yourself over-extended on debt with no emergency fund because you’ve been living above your means? Does this keep you up at night wondering what will happen if you lose your income due to this pandemic? (Or, perhaps you’ve lost your job already). Take this time to assess your current financial situation; understand how debt leaves you vulnerable when there is a hiccup in life, and make plans to move toward a more secure and peaceful financial future. #daveramseybabysteps, #debtfree

2.      Physically: One of the biggest excuses for not getting fit is “I don’t have enough time”. Right now, it’s the perfect time to include regular exercise into your daily routine. If you usually have a long commute to work, use that time to run in the morning. Running is a great way to practice social distancing, and it will help you fight cabin fever throughout the day. Resistance training is easily done inside if the weather isn’t cooperative, or if you don’t have a good place to run safely where you live. You don’t need to join a gym to lift hand weights or do push ups.  If you want to lose weight, set a specific goal for 90 days out that’s measurable, achievable, and realistic. Visualize the end result of how much better you will feel physically in 90 days. #SMARTgoals, #P90X, #workout, #fitness

3.      Emotionally: Workaholics and frequent travelers often complain they don’t have time to spend with family and to build deeper relationships with their spouses and kids. Opportunity, thy name is “Work from Home”. The dirty little “work from home” secret I discovered when I started working from home four years ago, is that for a lot of tasks, I’m much more efficient in getting my job done remotely without typical office distractions. (There is still a need for collaboration in some tasks which can be easily done online through Zoom)  This means I can afford a few minutes when my son asks me a question about working on his truck, or my daughter comes in to interject some fun with her quick wit and sarcastic humor. Not only does it increase my relationship with them, but it rejuvenates my mind when I sit back down in front of the computer.  #worklifebalance, #workfromhome, #humanizework

Coronavirus has temporarily changed the way we work and live, but this change has also given us some unique opportunities to try doing things a little differently. In the end, we can become stronger, both individually and as a society, if we turn off the twenty-four-hour news cycle, start to visualize long term goals, and stop focusing on constant news feeds about the lack of toilet paper. Things will return to normal at some point, and we shouldn't have regrets about how we invested our time during this unique situation.