I am sure you will agree with me that most of us are super tired of COVID-19, which as of March 2021, has been with us for over a year. Many lost loved ones, other joined the unemployed, our kids couldn’t go to school or struggled in online classes, our favourite gyms and restaurants closed… the list is long.
Working from home proved great for some but difficult for many. Even for those who adapted to this way of working faced new challenges. These included being now connected to work 24/7, having a “boss zoom visit” take place right in your living room or bedroom, people cancelling meetings with few minutes notice, if any, along with notifications and alerts buzzing and beeping all day long in our pockets.
These days, your best friends turned out to be the UBER courier driver and the STARBUCKS drive-thru attendant. You have to almost bribe your barber for a trim (or perhaps, your dog’s groomer!), while risking a police ticket or arrest being in the presence of the incorrect number of people. To top it all, you have to watch what, how, when and to whom you can express a simple opinion. To go with the flow, it often seems better be a non-smoker, vegetarian senior on a bicycle who eats organic food, lives in a renewable energy home, drives an electric car, and chooses “responsible” destinations when and if you’re ever able to travel again. Thank you COVID.
Sorry for the long-winded list. In order to keep us all sane, here are a couple of home-made cures for the COVID blues:
Two unique types of investments…
Investing in yourself
The first type of investment is really about investing in yourself. This means a lifetime of continuous learning activities. Many people think that once they graduate from school or university, the education part is finished. The truth is: we should never stop learning. Going through life itself is a continuous journey of learning, of course, but here is a good question. Have you made any specific investment in yourself lately? All too often, we forget to make these crucial investments or defer them. I’m talking about activities such as joining a special group, or taking a certain course, buying a book you heard about, or planning a trip to a specific place you wanted to visit for a long time (it will happen again!).
I applaud the many professions and industries that require their members to extend their education or training. Typically, there are a number of dedicated days every year for refresher courses and catch-up curriculums. The investment could be for professional or for personal reasons; all that matters is that you do it! The key is to stay open to acquiring new knowledge and insights.
Henry Ford once said: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” So, if you want to stay young, never stop learning, and make sure you make investment in this area.
Investing in others
The second type of investment is tougher; it has to do with investing in others. Good teachers, for instance, know that they are investing in the education of their students. They may not see the fruit of their investment for many years, but if and when they reunite with their students, they can appreciate the results when they see that their difficult students of one day managed to graduate as doctors, lawyers, business leaders, nurses, pastors, bankers, etc.
Moms and Dads know subliminally that they invest in the life of their children. That investment is not limited to the early years of school only, but extend to every aspect of life. What they say, how they react, where they go, who they know, why they behave in a certain way, and so on. As Moms and Dads, we constantly influence our children with how we behave and act.
If you are in a leadership position, always be cognizant of the great influence you have on your subordinates. If you organize just to get the job done, you miss the incredible opportunity of influencing and sowing ideas into the lives of your team members. One of the best compliments you can receive is to be remembered as somebody who influenced someone’s career and had a positive impact on their lives. That impact could be on a professional level or a personal level. Both are equally rewarding.
I encourage you to even stretch the “investment in others” to include all the people that you meet daily, weekly, and monthly, even during these challenging times. Our circle of people is not limited to work colleagues, family, and friends, but these days in particular, extends to the grocery clerk, the dry cleaner attendant, the pharmacist, the bank teller, the postman, and many others that cross our lives every day. A genuine compliment, a friendly question or a word of encouragement may be the highlight of their day!
Food for thoughts as we shake-up the blues of COVID-19!