“When things are all messed up beyond recognition, that’s when the heroes step forward and create things, invent things, and develop things that change the world. And that’s what is needed right now. If you have a vision for America 2.0, now’s the time.”
– Mark Cuban
In the last quarter of a century, we’ve suffered some catastrophic economic event approximately every 7 years and in recent times; a virus we feared would wipe us out every 2 years. If you’re in certain areas like Orlando where I am, you’ve had some pretty hard shut-downs like 911 and before/after some major hurricanes. Another example was the 2018 fire in Northern California, where more than 18,000 homes, businesses, churches, nearly 2 million acres of land were burned, and dozens of people perished.
It is essential to conclude that you will face a crisis like this on a continual basis and need to make yourself virus-proof and recession-proof.
Tragically, lives are lost and some people’s finances are ruined. However, one thing that always gets me thinking and keeps me motivated is that some people come through these tragic events and innovate in ways that make their lives or even the whole world better than before. As an example, Zoom, Netflix, and Charmin are cranking right now.
1. The data is in. Those who have a high-functioning immune-systems and are exposed to the Covid-19 will either never know they had it or will over-come the condition in about a week. Following the exposure; they will develop anti-bodies to create immunity. (Extent of immunity TBD).
Over the next several years, at some point, approximately everyone will come face to face with this or some mutated form of the virus.
If your immunity is not strong, then you will take the full brunt of Covid-19 or any of these pervasive, insidious viruses. Those with less efficient immune systems can suffer for over a month, possibly die from the condition, and will not create the anti-bodies necessary to generate future immunity. LEARN HOW TO TEST AND CORRECT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM!
2. VIRUS-PROOF YOUR FINANCES: The data is in. If you’re a purely brick and mortar business, have only one customer or customer type, and have not established more than one stream of recession-proof income than you are likely taking the full brunt of the economic down-turn and every crisis we face in the future. LEARN MULTIPLE WAYS OF DELIVERING YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, INCREASE THE NUMBER, EXPAND THE CUSTOMER TYPE, AND CREATE THE SKILLS TO DO IT VIRTUALLY.
When I wrestled in college, we would get into some very competitive tournaments and you would hope to be placed in a bracket with an easier match. Eventually, however, if you want to win the tournament you have to face the toughest opponents. Our coach used to say, “You can run, but you can’t hide.”
There are people succeeding as well now as they did before. There are people who have been exposed to the virus and didn’t get sick or have any symptoms when they were infected. There is always the possibility to thrive in any environment.
You can run, but you can’t hide from this virus or what are often severe, roller-coaster-like ups and downs in the economy. What you can do is prepare yourself, develop strengths, innovate, and generate the necessary new skills to thrive come what may.
Let’s lead the world out of chaos
Dr. Ben
