What Are Your Coping Mechanisms? Shorty EP #082

G', day, guys. Dan. Here on Tuesday 21st April, we're at week 17 of the year and crashing through this current pandemic. Things are easing off, I think, in New Zealand and actually in Australia here. We're very fortunate. The curve has been flattened. So there's some really good news that these measures are working. And I appreciate if you're in the States or Europe, it's a very different story. So I really just wanted to kind of mention that up front because we are. I was watching a presentation last night from Is Jason, the Ardennes, who's the PM of New Zealand. And you know, they've been very fortunate. They've managed to shut everything down for four weeks and are looking at, you know, one. One death, which is phenomenal, still a death, but nonetheless quite incredible. And they're talking about moving from a code 4 lockdown to a code 3 lockdown in a week's time with a review a couple of weeks after. And so I share that with you because it's giving us some indication of where this is going, that this lockdown is worth the pain and the, and the pressure that it's putting on businesses because we need to obviously preserve the health of the nations that we live in. And we touched on that today on our coaching call. Actually, we had a very kind of open and frank conversation because I'll be honest with, I've been going pretty hard supporting my members and really for the last four or five, six weeks, it's been pretty, pretty full on. And, you know, my health has been impacted. I've. I've had a stinking cold and it's really kind of taken its toll on me and it's been really struggling to shift so much. So I went to the doctors yesterday and actually she said you just, you just kind of, you know, just. It's just the tail end of a cold, but my blood pressure was up and, you know, I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I'm fairly fit, my diet could probably be improved. So I'm just looking at that going. It's just stress and anxiety and even though I'm very optimistic and I see a, you know, a way out of this and, and my business, fortunately, is stable. I know for a lot of people there's, there's a lot more going on. So I just wanted to kind of share that with because, you know, I think it's important that we're vulnerable and we're not infallible. You know, I need to take that very seriously. It's a serious condition that if I don't look after it could, could lead to heart disease. And that's something I want to avoid obviously. So I'm tracking it and measuring it. I bought blood pressure monitor yesterday and I'm tracking that every day. But it did just kind of strike me as, you know, my anxiety levels are up undeniably because I don't feel I have any control over the situation. And I just wonder if that's something that resonates with you that you know, the lack of control, the lack of being able to just go out and take action and self, you know, create, you know, sales for yourself or create, you know, business for yourself. I mean the guys in the call this morning were just saying like we just, we just miss going out and shoots, you know, it's like something we enjoy. And I just want to share on the call this morning there was someone recommended, you know, a really great strategy for one of our members. It was about creating user generated content that engages and inspires the audience. And we had some really, really positive, you know, discussions around that. And I think the one thing that struck me was this mastermind group that I run. It's full of really talented smart people and we all just shared this morning. It was a really, quite, quite a kind of amazing call from perspective. And that is the power of a mastermind. You know, when you get to.

Share a problem with a group of like minded peers and, and they come up with solutions with you. And I found that to be very, very powerful and beneficial and, and I know that it was a two and a half hour call, it was very, very powerful. So you know, if, if you are someone who, who, who would like to be part of something like that, then do reach out because now is a great time when you've got some time to get involved in something like this. And you know, I'm happy to have a chat with you to see if it's a good fit. But, but I say that because I want to serve you. Because if you are dealing with this on your own, it's no fun. And I'm fortunate that I have my mentors that I work with and I have my group and I find it very, very nourishing. I find it very, very, it's very, very invigorating to work with positive people and solve problems together. But yeah, and the second thing is just look after yourself. You know, I've been just experiencing a lot of kind of not quite sleepless nights. But you know, this is on my Mind all the time I'm considering, you know, how can I adapt? How can I help my clients adapt? How can we help clients who are struggling to kind of find opportunities? And we did that this morning with one of our members who had hit a bit of a wall. You know, he'd been going down a particular route and then that particular industry has just been decimated by this, and it's probably not going to recover quickly, but. But we were able to as a group, as a collective, brainstorm and come up with a number of solutions. And just after the call, this member messaged me saying, oh, thanks so much. I really appreciate that call. It's given me a really strong focus. And I think that's the key just now is about having a strong focus. You know, studying, learning, spending time improving your skills. Really, you know, use this time available to make your brain stronger, to make you stronger, to build some muscles so that you can come out of this ready for action. From a personal perspective, you know, I've. I've had a bit of a health scare. You know, it's like my blood pressure's up and then that's. It's not that serious, but it could be if I don't look after it. So I'm very much focused on that now and, and just being mindful of my energy levels. I think with this situation, I mean, I've been pretty much how is locked down for five weeks now. I mean, we got to walk the dogs occasionally. And we're fortunate here in Australia that, you know, a walk and an exercise can be a walk to the beach and back. So I do understand that we're in a very unique position here, but looking after yourself. So I've just gonna. Just adjust my daily work schedule. I'm not going to put myself under the kind of pressure that I normally do to get stuff done. I'm actually going to factor in time each day for exercise. I've got a zwift set up here in the office with my, my old bike and just do like even 20 minutes. Like last night I did 20 minutes. I just did 20. Burnt 100 calories. But it felt good to be moving. And I think the thing that struck me recently is I've realized just how sedentary I've become because we're just not going out and meeting people and hanging out with people and going to cafes. And so I think it's kind of. It's having a. It's having a. A kind of an impact on my, my psychological state as well. You know, I'm fortunate. I don't suffer from depression, but I certainly feel anxiety and I'm consciously aware of my mind being preoccupied with this situation. And really more so from a kind of how can I solve this? How can I kind of fix this and help my clients and subscribers to kind of come with solutions. So we've done a few things recently where I've been doing a lot of them, being a guest on other people's shows and video casts. I did one with Jamie the other day from Pure Video in New Zealand, Jamie McKenn, who Someone I met just through seeing one of his ads and reached out to him about five, six months ago. We had a great chat yesterday. I've done stuff with Gideon Shalwick, I've done stuff with, with the guys over at.

My brain's just gone flat.

It'll come back to me. But we've done a number of different, different topics and discussions with Chris Schwager. That's how can I forget Chris? And we've done a lot of kind of giving value to the market and I encourage you to do the same. Use this time to get in front of people to help them with just high value.

And it will kind of raise your, your kind of profile a little bit as well. But it's just, it's just about kind of doing constructive things, getting on shows, communicating your message. But one thing I want to just sort of share is make sure that whatever message you're sharing is, is you. You, you're thinking about it from the point of view of the end user is, is how is this piece of information or this knowledge or this video, how is it going to serve my prospect? How is it going to help them with something genuine? It's, it's not an, it's not about just pushing content out for content sake. I want you to think about how does this help your audience. So, for example, this podcast today, I was kind of struggling with what to talk about and I went, well, why don't I just share the fact that I've, you know, I'm feeling a bit knackered, feeling a bit exhausted and that's why my immune system is a bit beaten. That's why I'm not getting over a cold quicker than I should be. And so I need to take that as a, as, as, as.

An indicator to look after myself. In fact, I was having a chat with Yana Martens yesterday and I said, she said, how you been doing? I said I've had a bit of a coping to dolls and she just wrote back and said, you know, self care, exclamation mark. So, you know, I, I need to practice what I preach. So I'm going to spend some time today reading away from the office. I'm going to, you know, set up a new regime to get myself back to full fitness, which is going to be, you know, an hour a day on exercise, an hour a day on reading, something that's not business related and actually just go and sit in the garden and be in the sunshine. And I want to encourage you to do the same. You know, a couple of my members are just peeling back. We're also just taking back the, the foot off the gas a little bit and being very focused about what we do and doing it in a way that will serve us and maintain our energy. Because.

This is a big deal, you know, what's going on. It's impacting us all in numerous ways. And I hadn't realized just how much it was impacting me. And it's not that I don't feel optimistic and positive about the future, because I do. It's just that, you know, I think I'd underestimated how.

How much impact this, this just pressure was having on me. So I'm going to just start to kind of ease off a little bit. I actually considered not doing this podcast today and actually recording a podcast thing. I'm only going to do one a week and I might still do that, but for the time being, I'm going to keep pushing on because I find that sharing this with you, I just, you know, if it benefits one person, then I feel like it's worthwhile. But look, I'd love to hear how you're managing.

This situation. So do me a favor, if this is resonating with you, please send me a DM on LinkedIn or Facebook and just let me know how you're traveling and make sure you're okay. Because I feel like, you know, even just saying this now, it kind of feels good to get it off my chest. And I know that when I did the podcast with Sam at the beginning of the year, that's been one of our most popular podcasts talking about anxiety. So I just thought I'd kind of address, address it head on and share how I'm feeling and, and I hope that you're okay.

You've been listening to the how to Scale a Video Business podcast with me, your host, Dan Lenny. If you're a video business owner who's hit a ceiling and we benefit from mentorship, support and coaching then check out how you can work with me over@denleny.com don't forget to subscribe and rate the show over on itunes and we'd really appreciate you taking a few minutes and to leave a review. And don't forget to share. If you feel you've gotten value from this episode and you think it would be useful for other filmmakers you know, then please do me a massive favor and share it on social media and.

In groups that you might be in. We'll see you next week.