Over the past six months, news of the spread and devastation of COVID-19, or coronavirus disease, has dominated every one of our media channels. It’s on the TV, the radio, in your news feed, it’s in your inbox, and everyone around you is still likely talking about it.
But even more noteworthy than the virus itself is what has happened in reaction to it. The stock market has fallen, entire countries have been in lockdown, popular events all over the world have been cancelled and millions of children have missed months of school. The panic and chaos triggered a new found rudeness in stores, stock piling of items, a disapproving glance over a cough, split second judgement of others… and the going rate for a bottle of hand sanitizer even reached 10X its retail price!
Many of these behaviours are driven by one emotion: FEAR.
Fear is a natural emotion that signals a potential threat to your physical or emotional safety. But fear, unchecked by facts, leads to negative behaviours like discrimination and poor decision-making.
So how can we avoid making decisions based on fear? Or worse, continually living in a fearful state?
Every moment of our lives, we are each choosing which way to go.
Every moment of our lives, we have a decision to make.
That decision is: What am I going to focus on?
What we choose to focus on affects our whole life. Whatever we focus on, we feel – whether it’s true or not.
Our problems are created through focus. Our opportunities are created through focus. We choose.
Are you unconsciously letting the media, society and the scent in the air of fear and anxiety draw on your focus? Or are you, like Jim Rohn taught Tony Robbins to do, choosing to “stand guard at the door of your mind?
Standing guard doesn’t mean living in a bubble or ignoring the reality in which you live – it simply means making conscious decisions about what you are willing to give your time, energy and effort to.”
In these times we need to remember to STAND GUARD. If we don’t discipline our fears and control our focus, the world will gladly do it for us.
Acknowledgement – Tony Robbins (tonyrobbins.com) & Chris Mok