10 things to overcome the upcoming testing times as an entrepreneur or as a leader.
1. Your willpower is the best remedy
Success in a battle is not determined by the outcome; It is determined by the morale of the fighters. Become a person of trust to your family, employees and friends in such moments. Mourning and grieving are not going to help us much.
Developing your willpower is the first step to improve your body’s immune system. Be brave and share only the courage with those around you. The world is not going to perish now. Life in China is getting back to normalcy.
2. Don’t worry about tomorrow
No one can assure that when this situation will become normal – tomorrow, next week, next month. Don’t get panic thinking only you are facing the tough times. Millions of businesses around the world have been affected.
Don’t worry about the economic situation now. This is not the time for planning. Let us first protect ourselves from the storm; we will then prepare a new action plan. So, stay safe – stay home for now.
3. Laughter therapy
A worried mind would invite diseases. You can increase your immunity and health just by being happy. Being in lock-down can make you frustrated with its emptiness and lack of mobility.
Take up the humour. Make yourself responsible for the laughter and happiness of your family.
4. Find out what motivates you
What inspires you beyond your work and career? Did you want to sing on the stage during school or college days? Have you written poems? Painting, dance, coin or stamp collection?
Give life to your pet project or your dream projects. They will cheer you up and will bring life your moments.
5. Plan a 20-day Fitness Challenge
Upcoming days will reduce our normal mobility, as we are compelled to stay at home. But make sure you sustain your flexibility and fitness. Since you can’t get out of the house, choose a workout that is suitable for you, such as yoga, pranayama, push-ups and sit-ups. Set a daily target and push yourself towards it.
Announce your challenge to your friends, family and in Whatsapp groups. Update your achievements daily. This will encourage others to take up their challenges.
6. Follow Social Distancing along with Corona Distancing on social media
Enough! Social media and WhatsApp are flooded with almost everything we need to know about the coronavirus. They spoke almost everything – it has originated from bat-eating, or the virus won’t affect if you eat betel leaves and such things – we are nowhere to find out the truth. If you want to advise somebody on this, please call on them over the phone.
Apart from Corona, talk to them about many other important things. Talk to your colleagues on video calling. Ask them how are they utilising their free time. Talk to your friends and their family members on video calling. Give them encouraging thoughts. Get to know each other well. Prepare a schedule for the day for calling your friends and team members.
7. Keep a healthy distance from News
Mass media, especially TV has been instrumental in making us aware of the virus, happenings across the world, and the precautions we should take.
But if you keep watching news channels for long, then you will be rewarded with illusions like the whole world is collapsing in front of your eyes and all the evil is happening to you. This may cause unnecessary stress and may lead to sleepless nights. Therefore, you decide to watch only 2 or 3 news channels at a particular interval, for a few hours in a day. Especially, avoid watching the news after 6 or 7 o’clock in the evening.
8. Think of your customers
It is in such a predicament, many new strategies, new ideas and new opportunities may be concealed. Think of your customers. Do you have something to do for them?
What are the customer requirements that you need to focus on after we get released from this confinement? Where is your business opportunity to satisfy the customer? What should you do to make a good impression of your company?
A few years back, a part of the United States was plunged into darkness for more than three days without electricity. At that time, all the restaurants had increased the price of food and reaped more profit. But an Indian restaurant thought differently. In the absence of the banks and the ATMs, they announced that customers could pay as much as possible, or pay later if they do not have money. Since that day, people have begun to think of the restaurant as their own.
9. Renew yourself
Take up the projects that you were unable to begin for the past few years because you were busy. It may be something like learning a new language, completing a long-awaited presentation and reading some important books.
Viktor Frankl, one of the greatest contributors in the field of psychology – developed his concepts during his confinement in Hilter’s concentration camp. He advocates that man does not have the freedom to choose what happens to him, but he can entertain his freedom in choosing how to react to his situations. He can choose to respond positively and overcome the challenges or choose to respond negatively and succumb to the problems.
Many notable creations came from people under confinement. Ask yourself what are you going to create now? Once you find an answer, announce it among your group of friends and undertake to complete it.
10. Train your subordinates
“If I get 6 hours to cut a tree, I’ll sharpen my axe in the first 4 hours,” says Abraham Lincoln. So, sharpen yourself and more importantly your team at this time.
Could the army be told to stay idle, or to go home during no-war years? No, definitely that’s not the way. Instead, they continue to conduct training and drills. Similarly, use these no-war days to train your staff. There are a lot of on-line training facilities available today. You may polish the sales skills of your salesmen. Assign your marketing team to build an Ansoff Matrix. If you want to learn a topic effectively, then commit to deliver training to your subordinates on it. You will learn it faster and deeper. Assign your managers some key topics to deliver as a training program.