Robert Schuler said, “Tough times never last, but tough people do”. You, I and every adult at this time know that whatever we’re going through now will be over someday. How bad it will get, or who will survive, we may not know but we sure know that the economy will be fine again and in fact, some people will be richer after this crisis.
In today’s article, we want to look at some important skills needed to become richer after this Pandemic.
1. Focusing on others
There’s this Biblical story about David when his enemies invaded his home and took away all his wives and belongings. As he ran after them to deliver his household, he saw a person on his way, dying. The normal thing for David to have done was to ignore the dying person because he has to be fast in order to rescue his family. David however did the opposite of that. He waited and helped the dying man. Fortunately for him, the dying man happens to be one of the people who actually invaded David’s home and to repay him for his kindness, he gave David every information he needed to catch up with his enemy.
The lesson in this story is very simple; most times the way to win in life is to pay attention to other people’s problems. Everyone knows that this is crazy, yet it is the way.
Whenever we’re in crisis, the first thing we want to do is to keep to ourselves and think about our problems all day. The problem about this strategy is that almost all the time, the solution to your problem is in other people’s problem. Zig Ziglar said, “You’ll get all you want in life if you help enough people get what they want”
You can solve all your problems in life if you help enough people solve theirs. The problem about this is that, to help others, you have to stop thinking about yourself 23 hours a day. You have to stop focusing on your pains, your loss and your calamities. You have to focus on the losses and pains of other people and think about how you can be the solution to those problems.
As you must have known by now, there are no two ways people make money other than by monetizing a solution to other people’s problem.
When this Pandemic and economic crisis is over, the people that will win are not those who spend 20 hours every day crying because of their pains. The people that will win and become richer are those who take some time to focus on other people’s problems and look for solutions to those.
- Emotional intelligence
When a crisis like this happens, it’s not usually the war against our physical bodies but against our minds and emotions. Panic, fear, worries and other negative emotions are the real enemy at a time like this and that’s why you need to be emotionally intelligent.
So what does it really means to be emotionally intelligent? Well, the war is on, and the TV screens are filled with images and news that will make even the bravest among us fear but if you can take some time out to calm down and say to yourself, “This will be over and I’ll be better”, then you can control all the negativity around you.
- Moving with your cheese
Spencer Johnson published a simple book on September 8th, 1998. It’s titled,” Who Moved my Cheese?”. “Who moved my cheese” is a book about change and the message in the book is simple, change is inevitable in life and the faster you can move with change, the better your life will be.
Jack Canfield said, “Change is inevitable in life. You can either resist it and potentially get run over by it, or you can choose to cooperate with it, adapt to it, and learn how to benefit from it.”
Every recession leaves the world a little different. Most people hate that because it does bring some discomfort. The best way to benefit from bad times is to stop fighting what you cannot change. Instead, be willing to move with your cheese, adapt with change and pay attention to the next door that the change may leave open.
- Creativity
Oxford Dictionary defines creativity as “the use of imagination or original ideas to create something”. Creativity is the act of creating a new solution to an old problem; creativity is the act of generating a new solution to a problem. As the world changes, new problems emerge, and only those who are creative can attempt to solve those problems.
Now than ever before, thinking outside the box is very important. To survive and prosper in the new economy, you have to be willing to add three different colours to make a new one.
- Daring spirit
A few days ago, a friend called me to let me know that he lost his job. While discussing with him, I made him realize that what he needs in the next phase of his life is the courage to face his fear and determinedly fight for his financial freedom.
The problem with this advice is that, well, that’s the least thing anyone wants to do right after they experienced something like a job loss. In fact, what most people would want to do right now is to look for a quick way to make money, like get-rich-quick-scheme.
The problem with such a tactic is that it only makes your situation worse. If there’s ever a time when courage is needed, it’s right now because some of us are going to face some difficult challenges and the only way to get through them is to be very tough. Remember what Robert Schuller said, “Tough times never last, But tough people do.”
We need to be tough to believe that we can fight through this. We need to be tough to start all over again. We need to be tough to be creative and take new risks. We have to be tough if we want to win.
Here is the summary;
Take some time to pay attention to other people’s problems and seek a solution to those problems
Be emotionally intelligent. Fight hard to control your negative emotions
This is the time to be more creative!
This is the time to embrace change and move with it!
This is the time to be more courageous!
