Today, I have noticed when I am on video calls, there is an option to record the conversation. Since we are using electronic communication so much now, I wonder how many times this feature is being used.
Does it matter? If you knew your conversation was being recorded and could be broadcast to the world, would you be kinder, more thoughtful? Perhaps you would think before you speak?
Perhaps it is good to assume we are being recorded. I’ve made an effort to consider this when I create a blog post. Let’s all consider the words we say and how we say them.
There is little need for hope when things are going great. When life is just humming along, we can have false confidence things are going to stay this way indefinitely. We can pretend that it is something we did, or that we are simply fortunate and will stay that way.
But when we face challenges, that is when we are faced with a choice. Do we give in to despair, or do we speak a message of hope?
Choose Hope
All of us have faced challenges recently. our health, our welfare, and our well-being have all faced an onslaught. We have similar facts. Do we choose to speak a message of hope or despair? I encourage you to speak words of hope. Get your facts out on a page. or type them into a document. Then speak words of hope. Just like we didn’t expect these challenges in 2020, we can face unexpected bright days ahead.
I am a person of faith and a Christ-follower. If you are having a challenge with finding hope, I am more than happy to share the faith and hope I have. It is a firm foundation for me.
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
Our faith and hope change how we look at circumstances. We didn’t have to use it much before this year. Now it is time to exercise that mental and spiritual muscle.
I have learned much from my wife over the years. One of the key takeaways I have seen in her that deep meaning and purpose is a powerful motivator. I have seen it in her recent decision to resign from a great position and to pursue what she feels is next in her life.
She certainly didn’t do it for the money. There was no lucrative position waiting for her. She did it because she feels she is being called to a higher purpose. We are still working on what that looks like. Yet, I am confident she will find her next step and help many women that have seen their lives turned upside down during the coronavirus lockdown.
Working With a Purpose
This current environment has had a deep impact on businesses. We won’t fully know the impact for months to come. One effect will be is that businesses that have lost their purpose years ago will most likely die. After all, it is going to take an extreme effort to restart many businesses. If the only reason it existed before March of 2020 was to make a profit, it may not be enough of a motivator to get it running again.
Just existing for profit will not be enough to resuscitate many businesses. Mission statements will become more than just something the leadership pays lip service to. Businesses will need a mission to continue through the challenging times that are ahead. We will all need a purpose that is more than just going through the motions of profit. Because profit may not come easily. It may take time and patience to become profitable once again.
We all know someone who is determined. Another word for it is stubborn. Anybody who has a pet that doesn’t do quite what they want it to do probably considers the fur baby stubborn. Of course, the pet is probably thinking the same thing about its owner!
Determination is needed more now than ever.
The United States has been knocked by the coronavirus pandemic for two months now
Some states are allowing businesses to restart
Business owners have to figure out how to operate in this new environment
Employees have to consider if their jobs are still viable or if they need to find work elsewhere
Corporate offices have to figure if it is still best for everyone to work remotely or to modify office space for health and safety
Determination will be as valuable and desirable as an asset as a nice stash of bathroom tissue was six weeks or so ago. We will need to be determined to bring the economy back online. This doesn’t mean we must be determined to make things the way they were. Rather, we will need to use ingenuity, creativity, and patience to make things work in a new reality.
Let’s all lead the way to a new way of doing things. Let’s be as determined as a little dog that really wants to go to school.
Training doesn’t get any easier. But if we are diligent, we can get more effective. Finding success in an endeavor may seem easy from the outside. But it’s the grind, as Daniel Pink wrote, that one has to do every day. It’s getting up early and putting in the miles.
Be patient and train
When I trained for a marathon, I searched for different solutions and different training methods. If there was a solution that would have made it easy to run a marathon without any training, I probably would have stumbled across it. If such a solution existed, I would have been both happy and disappointed. I would have been happy that I would not have had to put in the hours. But I would have been disappointed that the effort was taken away from me. What is the point of a marathon, after all, if it takes little sweat and effort?
Today, all of us have been thrust into a COVID-19 marathon. All of us wish that this crisis would end tomorrow. But it doesn’t look likely. All businesses and employees will have to adjust in some way. Like it or not, we are now all required to train for the next level.
Patience does not mean we simply wait this out. If I just waited for the day of the marathon without training for it, I would have never crossed the finish line. While we wait, we must train. We must prepare.
Turn a crisis into an opportunity
Since we have all been sidelined in some way, how are you using that time to train?
How are you training physically?
How are you training mentally?
How are you training spiritually?
We all have an opportunity to do the work and to make a difference today. Grind through the tasks. Learn from them and become better through them. Training doesn’t get any easier. But the results are worth it. You may not hear a stadium full of applause. But it will be worth it in the long run.
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