Your Goals and COVID 19

COVID 19: Succumb or Innovate

Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got-Art Buchwald

 

This post is about what to do with your goals in the face of COVID 19. I don’t know what your reaction has been towards this pandemic so far but I would guess it falls somewhere on the spectrum between Succumbing and innovating.

For me the two broad reactions are succumbing or innovating. Those who succumb will not realize their goals. Those who innovate will find a way to get things done and reach their goals? Which camp do you belong to? 

Succumbing is the easy way out. It does take some effort though to just let go of your goals. The weight on your mind can be as taxing as what it takes to get things done. In succumbing you are saying ‘I am helpless in the face of this pandemic.’ You are surrendering to the circumstances you find yourself in. 

The question you should be asking yourself is when are you ever going to get things done? You see many times we quit on our goals at the slightest challenge standing before us. We keep waiting for when the weather will be perfect for us to go out. The truth is the weather is rarely perfect for anything. Today we are battling COVID 19, tomorrow we will be battling something else. For farmers, it is said those who observe the wind can never sow. This is the way of life. 

Succumbing says, you have zero effect on what is happening. It is giving up the title before the fight. Think about any challenge as the obstacle that stands between you and your destiny. When you succumb you are saying that your challenges are greater than your destiny. We all know that that isn’t true at all.

Succumbing means settling for less than what you know is possible. When you set your goals at the beginning of the year or whenever you set goals, you knew that it was possible to accomplish these goals. Why would you change your mind at the slightest sign of trouble? 

Succumbing means you remain where you are or go back on your commitment. It is costly to succumb because you remain in limbo or even become worse off because many other forces will keep pushing you back. 

The good news is that you have another option. The other option is innovation. 

Those who will sail through this moment and maintain momentum are the innovators. It is said necessity is the mother of invention. If you are hungry enough for it, you will find a way to get it. The reason we quit on our goals so easily is because they were never really goals in the first place. They were more of wish lists and fantasies. Fantasies cannot stand in the face of opposition. Goals will stand no matter what. If you cannot do without it, then you will not flinch in the face of opposition. If your life depends on it, you will do whatever it takes. Our goals need to attain a life or death significance in our minds. Only then will we have the wherewithal to push through opposition.

The best thing to do is to anticipate opposition and prepare for it mostly mentally. If we are set to roll over any opposition, we will easily conquer all. With your goals, you must go in to make it happen. The moment your mind is still in a state of trying, you are easy to push aside. When you are committed to your goals, opposition just spurs you on.

Innovation is about finding a way through, above, beneath or around the challenge. It is about you asking yourself now that the way I expected things to go is no longer viable, what options are available to me. You have to be good at thinking on your feet. If you had started on a particular path and cannot proceed because of a lockdown or whatever is happening, you don’t simply go home and say I am done. You ask yourself how else can I move forward?

God has blessed you with a brilliant mind that is capable of thinking through challenges. To innovate, you have to put this brilliant mind to work. Others who have accomplished great feats have also been where you are right now. They have faced obstacle after obstacle. Instead of quitting and going home to sulk, they have risen to the occasion and found a way through. They didn’t have any special gifts. They just had the grit to stay on course as best they could. You have to do the same. More often than not, our success is not the result of some genius or advantage rather it is success against the odds.

You need the mental fortitude to innovate your way through this and any other crisis in the future. Your spirit must become unbreakable. Nothing can stand in your way when you know where you are going are determined to get there no matter what. You will overrun every obstacle and reach your destination. Challenges are there to test our resolve. Once it is clear that we are the real deal, they cease to be a bother. 

Innovation helps you to push through the obstacles. It is ok to make tactical retreats and retrace your steps. The problem comes when you retreat and fail to come back. How do you tell the difference between the two? In the first instance, you retreat and look at the drawing board trying to find another way around. In the second one, you go home and do nothing. 

So what will your choice be? Will you succumb to the opposition before us now and pick up on your dreams after COVID 19-who has any idea when it will end-though we are all praying it goes away like yesterday. Or will you innovate by thinking through all the possible ways you can keep advancing on your agenda in spite of the pandemic?

As for me, I have chosen to innovate. That is why I am working on all the aspects of my business and ministry I can work on from home. It is why I have to make use of media like this to communicate with the world outside from my living room. Yes things have become a bit complicated and for some time I was also thinking we are done until this is over, I quickly reminded myself through some little reasoning that I can still remain productive through this period. I will finish by a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘This time like all times is a very good one if we but know what to do with it.’

In what ways can you advance on your agenda in the midst of this pandemic? Share in the comments what you have been doing to stay on track with your goals since we were disrupted.

Are you lost on your goals and do not know which way to go from here? Is your business/ministry/career in need of help in moving forward? Feel free to share your situation with us in the comments below. Whatever you do, make sure to stay on track and advance on your agenda.