It’s a worrying time out there. The world is effectively on lock down. I’m taking the necessary precautions and am on a self-quarantine at home, after just having travelled back from the UK.
None of us have any idea what is going to happen in the coming weeks or months. The long term impacts are the economy are yet to be felt.
But there will be some, that much is certain.
How are you holding up? How is your resilience?
the importance of resilience
Every single day on your journey as an entrepreneur will be faced with uncertainty.
Every day you make decisions without understanding all of the variables.
You make mistakes and you try again. People say no, and you still put yourself out there.
Without resilience you would give up.
and then there’s all the other stuff
Even in times when business is going great and the economy is stable, life has a way of throwing us curve balls.
Since starting my business in 2013, I have had a crazy number of “life events” come at me with little to no warning.
In 2015, I had my best revenue year to date. Business was amazing and opportunities kept arising. But in the middle of all that, I lost my pet of 15 years. (I know for some of you this may not seem like a big deal, but) I was destroyed.
My marriage was also severely on the rocks. I was at the lowest emotional point in my life and the only way out that I could see was to let it end and to find a new beginning.
So in 2016, we separated and I left the UK, my home of the past 11 years.
life goes on
I took the time I needed to get my life back together, but my business really suffered as a result. I made the decision to settle in Kenya and practically rebuild from scratch.
I entered 2019 with strong determination to get things back on track. Then on 15th January, the ability to realise my vision was put at risk during the terrorist attack at my office complex. I genuinely thought I might die.
6 weeks later, my father did.
resilience is the only way
I started this year strong. Because despite all of the adversities I faced over the past few years, I kept going. I had dreams I want to realise, and those dreams were still valid.
Resilience is the only way to get through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
It’s the only way to keep business going when life falls apart.
And the only way to keep life going when business falls apart.
It’s the only way to keep going when everything around us falls apart.
Everything is temporary, but how you respond in these moments is critical.
how to build your resilience
We can never predict what will happen to us, and when.
One of the best ways to build up our resilience to unpredictable events is to be as prepared as possible for it.
It’s time to rethink your strategy for 2020 and put some new plans into place. There will be a lot of uncertainties, but try to think through your options as best as you can.
For my business, it has meant delaying some plans until later in the year, while accelerating some things that were meant to start later. I have also done some scenario analysis for cashflow planning.
Maybe for yours, it’s about retaining clients, moving more activities online, reduce key person dependencies, alternating forecasts, etc.
For others, you may find yourself with more time on your hands. Use it as an opportunity to launch new ideas, get through chunkier tasks on your to do list, learn something new, and do things you love (indoors!).
over to you
How do you continue in the face of uncertainty? What tips can you share about resilience? Let us know in the comments below.
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