I hope you and yours are staying safe. This is truly an unprecedented time in our history. While anxiety and uncertainty have dominated our headlines and emotions, we can start to lose perspective. As lines become longer at the grocery store and our days quarantined add up, our patience gets tried. The only option we are left with is to persevere. This applies to our personal lives, finances and our businesses. None of these are easy, but we can and we will do it!
Perspective
While the current volatility in the markets have been severe, we've been here before. Attached I've included some slides from our investment partner JP Morgan showing the recovery time periods from past market shocks. Significant market fluctuations in short periods of time are not anything new. I equate these times to experiencing turbulence while riding an airplane. No one likes it, not even the pilots, but there is nothing you can do during it but ride it out. While it's very reasonable to believe our world will not look the same after this pandemic than before it, that is often the case in these new and unprecedented times. While the transition to our new normal will be a challenge, there is tremendous opportunity and good that will come from this. With every challenge comes new opportunities.
Patience
The toughest thing to do during periods of high emotions is to stay the course and stick to your plan. When it feels everything is changing around you, it causes you to question your own beliefs and want to react immediately. During these times of change, the final outcome is never immediately known. While we understand our planet will be different than it was 3 months ago, we can't possibly know what it will look like in the future and when. In the attached slide, you can also see the value of staying the course in difficult times and the cost of reacting too swiftly. Now is the time to measure maybe three times before you cut once. As our world leaders describe the situation as fluid and ever changing, so should be the steps we take forward. Be kind to yourself and others and trust your feelings and beliefs. Remember, nothing is ever as good or as bad as we may feel it is.
Perseverance
What has always been true about our country above all is that we persevere. When obstacles are put in our place, we figure out how to go around, under or over that obstacle, we never stand still. So as we persevere in our isolated environments, remember, we are not alone. I am asking myself, and would recommend you ask yourself, two simple questions:
- What currently are my greatest challenges and opportunities?
- What do I feel will be my greatest challenges and opportunities in the future?
- What am I doing about both?
To provide a platform for discussion for those struggling with these questions, I am re-instituting our Entrepreneur’s Support Group(“ESG”). In the past we met in person to discuss these items but we must adapt and persevere so I’m hosting an online discussion forum for those wanting or needing to hear other, be heard by others and gain a different perspective. I have seen the power of a different perspective at the right time having a dramatic positive effect on a future. Below is the information on the meeting. You can join by audio or video.
Stay safe my friends.