James Stockdale was captured and tortured in the Vietnam war.
He made it through several years of being held captive in a POW camp and survived to tell the amazing story.
Others were not able to endure this and never returned home.
Stockdale was asked about the ones that did not make it and replied
The ones that died were the optimists.
They were the ones that kept saying we were going to be home by Christmas.
When Christmas came and they weren’t going home, they died of a broken heart.
There’s a concept I’ve been teaching to my Mastermind members since the day this pandemic started.
It’s called productive paranoia…it’s one of the main points in the book Great By Choice.
Covid-19 has run rampant among our country and specifically small businesses.
In mid-March we had to go into complete lockdown and eliminate all in-person services.
There’s a great possibility of this happening again depending on your state.
According the productive paranoia principle, it’s advised that you think about your plan to run your business if this happens.
The plan for my New Jersey gym is in place if we get shut down again.
It does little good for you to be optimistic and hope things are getting better soon.
The length of Covid-19 is out of your hands.
The end result of your business from Covid-19 is not.
The one thing you must do is be certain you will make it (if that’s the right move for you).
That’s not being an optimist, that’s just being committed to a result.
This should shape your mindset to be prepared for anything and make the necessary decisions to ensure that your ship gets home.
It’s not an easy time, I won’t gag you with the “Covid-19 has taught us so much”.
It sucks.
But, this is the hand we’ve been dealt and we need to be prepared.
I wish you the best of luck.
Vince Gabriele
P.S. If you need some coaching to get you through this time…check this out