19 - COVID Slow Down Positives

“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.”– J. Sidlow Baxt

On any given day, you can turn on your TV, listen to the radio,view a website, and you’ll find it very difficult to find positive news about anything going on in the world today.

With the advent of “Stay at Home” orders, the rapid fall of the markets, and the historic rise of unemployment, most advisors have probably found that running a practice amidst all this chaos can sometimes feel impossible and very difficult.

Thus, making it a challenge to see the positives that we will carry forward from this experience.

Several months ago, I wrote a blog titled “Situations Have a Way of Changing”. In it, I wrote about the idea that situations can change quickly and unexpectedly. What may have once been a difficult or frustrating situation, can quickly transform into something positive.  I think that could be said for our current situation.

Below are a few positive lessons realized recently that may help you put things in a better perspective for both your business and personal lives:

Business Positives:

1.      It’s proven the value of being organized and efficient in your practice.

2.      It’s made us think more about the value of having a business plan in place to keep us on track.

3.      It’s provided the opportunity for us to validate our client’s trust in our advice and guidance.

4.      It’s brought forth the advanced adaptation and implementation of new technologies.

5.      It’s confirmed the value of good leadership.

6.      It’s helped us become more efficient and better communicators.

7.      It’s proven the value of good support staff and partnerships.

8.      It’s made us better stewards of our practices by forcing us to focus on “Wants vs. Needs”.

9.      It’s stress-tested our chosen philosophy and conviction in investment styles and management.

10.  It’s caused us to remember there are always opportunities to grow in all situations.

11.  It’s helped us remind ourselves of our noble profession of helping people make good decisions about money.

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Personal Positives:

12.  It’s proven our ability to be Resourceful and Resilient when times get tough.

13.  It’s reminded us of the value of a healthy“Work/Life Balance”.

14.  In many ways, it’s reconnected us to the most important things in our lives.

15.  It’s reminded us to be courteous and thoughtful of others.

16.  It’s reaffirmed the benefits of being healthy and having good hygienic habits.

17.  It’s caused many to pay closer attention to their own personal profit and loss statements.

18.  It’s reminded us about the irreplaceable value of close friends and beloved family.

19.  For many, it’s reminded us that there’s a kitchen in our house and there’s good food at home too!

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Trying to find positives in difficult situations is not easy, but definitely necessary. Positive growth comes to us by way of difficulty and change. While unprecedented in history,this too shall pass and we’ll be better for it with individual lessons learned,some easy, some hard but nonetheless, learned and carried forward.

And lastly, I’ll leave you with my own personal lesson.

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To quote the late Ronald Regan:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

It’s reminded me that our civil liberties are something to be cherished, fought for and never taken for granted.

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