Coronavirus Crisis as an Opportunity
Besides everything that is undoubtedly bad about the global coronavirus pandemic, it at the same time presents unforeseen opportunities for self-determination and advancement. To discuss those, OK! Magazine talked to Beka Lezhava, a Personal and Business Coach, Motivational Speaker and Trainer, who told us how to use the ongoing processes in the country for our advantage.
What are your views on the coronavirus pandemic, and what do you think the current crisis will alter in our everyday lives?
There exists a saying: "Move forward in spite of everything." Try to adhere to this, it will help. Catch the moment! Now at least there is plenty of time! Use it! It is an opportunity to mobilize your inner resources, to reform experiences and to focus on the future. Try to use this time to create the best version of yourself. You can change reality and break the crisis with your free will.
Such an unprecedented crisis is the best time to plan for success and personal transformation. The choice is yours and it all depends on your diligence, courage, faith and the strength of your inner resources. This situation (or opportunity) has been given to you to: define strategic goals; discover your own resources; be able to manage stress and crises; be confident in your own abilities; and, most importantly, develop self-motivation and self-esteem.
The old saying goes: "A well-started job is half done." Doctors say a correct diagnosis is an important part of treatment. The time you spent honestly analyzing your condition, before you start moving towards a goal, will save you months, and maybe even years. In 2020, as never before, we will all have to adjust to certain restrictions and think of our collective future, where more unity, friendship, understanding, individualism and freedom will be needed.
Use this time to rediscover your own abilities, skills, talents, values, and more. The more flexible and intelligent you are this year, the more successful your life will be in the next.
How can we elevate our mood in the face of the current crisis around the world?
The paramount motivation of a person is psychological survival, second only to physical survival. It is important to start each day with an uplifting mood. If you start each morning with an affirmation: "I feel happy and excited this morning. Today, I will attain some form of success!", all aspects of your life will gradually regulate.
If you maintain positive thinking, your happy thoughts will be materialized into positive events in your life. Our world is a big mirror. Smile even during the biggest crisis in the world and the world will smile back; otherwise, it will return the negativity of your thoughts, words and actions.
Smile! Laughter balances the body. If you need a smile (kindness) from the world, always smile sincerely and boldly. It is important to nurture love in your own heart, to love yourself and everything outside you. This will be your biggest contribution to reducing chaos and suffering in the country and around the world. People deceive themselves with negative thoughts and "words." Love yourself! Accept yourself as you are and realize your uniqueness. Take care of yourself and give your ‘inner child’ everything it so requires.
Perceive the world as a friend. It sometimes teaches us and tries to explain something, but it is never our enemy. Let’s open our eyes wide, to realize what has changed for the better in this short period of time and see that the world is our helper! Learn life lessons and most importantly, use them effectively.
Stay positive on the inside. Actively search for the causes of happiness while staying at home. You can subdue the inner negative with the positive. Your personality and life will change for the better if: 1. You have more positive thoughts in your mind and if: 2. You have more positive emotions/feelings in your heart.
Renowned American writer Napoleon Hill writes: "The subconscious responds only to desires saturated with emotion and faith." Truly so. Don’t think negatively and feed your subconscious with the positive.
Try to avoid stress and maintain emotional health through practicing positive affirmations, prayer, correct wording/visualization of goals, new knowledge via books and the Internet, writing, drawing, exercise, dance, music, playing with a child, releasing negative emotions through laughter or crying, and more.
Positive thinking alters our emotional background for the better. Negative emotions and destructive feelings go away, freeing up a space for nurturing peace and self-confidence.
We need to use stress and stressful situations for our benefit. The key to managing a stressful situation lies in your decision to unite with other people and be solidary with them – in this manner, you create a very strong defense against any external, negative influence.
Animals also have good means of defending themselves from stress. At this time, they unite and overcome stress. Most people do the opposite, as they „fight” stress alone. We, humans, are very close to each other and we should not lock ourselves in a shell. People run in times of stress, we don’t even want ourselves, or others, no one, we just look at computers, cell phones or TVs, and we get stressed. All these lead to its logical outcome, which will not be largely positive. People need to understand and feel that they need each other's support to reduce or eliminate stress. In this case, they have effective ammunition for overcoming stress: solidarity. Other means, especially asociality and self-locking, will turn stress into depression.
Restricting space and movement is certainly difficult for a person who is a social being and perceives it as a punishment. Two main recommendations during an epidemic and a crisis in general: 1. Take care of each other, 2. Respect each other and each other's personal space.
We need empathy or the ability to empathize with others and understand their psychological state. - Why? Because it allows us to build social connections (following rules during a pandemic) with other people; teaches us to regulate our own emotions; develops our communication skills; increases the desire to help others; reduces stress.
The fact is that we can't control everything. For example, we cannot control the color of our skin, who our parents are, when the pandemic will end, and so on. But there is one thing we really control: our response to what is happening to us. That's why we need to stop worrying about what we can't control (the circle of sorrow) and focus on our circle of influence. Find something in the circle of sorrow that makes you always nervous. Make the decision not to worry about it anymore. The ability to manage emotions is one of the main definitions of emotional intelligence in psychology. Your success (which is a healthy perception of yourself and a sense of optimism) and well-being depends on high emotional intelligence. That’s what drives people.
Is it possible to plan our future and move forward despite the paused world?
Such pauses are very good, useful, necessary and beneficial for our lives. Whatever happens, happens for better. This "descent" was given to us to rise. If life gives us a lemon we have to make our own lemonade. We can move forward in any direction even during self-isolation. When there is a crisis it is most important to learn from these crisis situations that we are always coming out of it stronger. Many successful people come out of crisis situations stronger, and their experiences speak for themselves. Managing crisis situations is certainly not easy. Don’t always draw a parallel on the pandemic. There are not always pandemics, and there are many different kinds of crisis around us: in relationships, economic and financial crisis, and so on. The key to managing a crisis is how we approach it.
As said by the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy: “In the Chinese language, the word crisis consists of two letters. The first letter expresses danger, the second - opportunity. In times of crisis, remember the danger and guess the possibility.”
Choose which one to hang on to: threat or opportunity. Accept reality as it is. Acknowledge such a reality, calm down and do not lose strength/energy. Wherever you are (especially during today's crisis), ask yourself the following questions: - Why do I need this situation and why is it good? - What will this period bring me? - What can I create during this period? - What can I find in myself? - What can I do? How can I develop? - What are my goals/objectives? - What actions will lead me to the goal? - What is it that will make my life more alive and joyful now? - What is it that will improve my life? - What is it that I could not attend and will attend now? - What is required of me? - What is the only thing I should do that no one else can do without me (it is impossible to delegate it)? - What is the most enjoyable and important activity for me? - How should I be skilled in this activity so that it can become a source of income?
And finally ...
Use this time! Take action! Start realizing creative energy! Leave resources and do not fight this reality. Don't waste your precious energy/resources in this futile fight! Whatever you think of as you experience the situation it happens and materializes. Whatever you don't want to happen, it will happen. Use this reality for your benefit and advancement!
The fast world has stopped and now is the time to find out where you are, where you are going and discover new opportunities. Being in the role of such an observer is necessary and necessary to become the best version of ourselves. I wish you less crisis. They will definitely be in me and you in life and we need to be very well prepared for this in advance and most importantly not be afraid. You can overcome all the problems/challenges and achieve your goals. good luck!
Author: Tsiako Ghambashidze
Translated by Elene Dzebisashvili, Ana Dumbadze