MBA1638 Guest Teacher – Margie Warrell – How to Bounce Back from a COVID-induced Crisis

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Heyoo. Welcome to the $100 MBA show business guidance delivered to you daily, every single day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar mba, a complete business training and community online. And today's episode is a guest teacher episode. Today we have Margie Worrell and she'll be teaching you how to bounce back from a Covid induced crisis. COVID 19 has affected us in so many ways and let's face it, even if it's affected us in our personal life, it will affect our performance in our business. It's hurt the economy. It's caused countless businesses to pivot, change and move direction. This really requires a level of grit, a level of perseverance. But how do you cope? How do you manage? That's why we brought on today's guest teacher, Margie Worrell to help you with. She'll be sharing with you the seven habits of highly resilient people. So let's get into it, let's get down to business. Today's guest teacher, Marjorie Worrell has worked with Fortune 500 businesses and is a member of the advisory board of Forbes School of Business and Technology. She's learned a ton from great business leaders and personally interviewed people like Richard Branson, Oliver Stone and Bill Marriott. And today she's here to te how to be more resilient in this really challenging time in our lives. I'm going to pass it on to Margie, but I'll be back with my own takeaways and to wrap up the episode. But for now, take it away, Margie.

Thank you, Omar. And hello everyone. I'm guessing that your plans, like my own, have been upended in recent times and you're dealing with a lot of disruption that you hadn't reckoned on and you didn't see coming. And you've probably felt a little unprepared for resilience. That trait that we talk about, our ability to bounce back quickly, is so crucial right throughout our lives. But in the midst of a crisis, that really throws all of us off our game in some way, shape or form. It's so important that we nurture resilience. The good news is, is that resilience isn't a trait that you're either born with or not. In fact, it sits on a spectrum and it's a skill and it's something that we can strengthen and get better at the more that we work at it. If you Think of a rubber band. You can twist it out of shape and pull it and move it in all sorts of directions. And if it's resilient, it will quickly bounce back. None of us are immune to fear. None of us are immune to the anxieties that can naturally rise up when we start to face a future that's very uncertain. But all of us, by doubling down on activities that help to expand our own bandwidth for life, can become more resilient and in doing so, respond in ways that serve us and set us up to thrive long after this crisis has passed. I want to share with you my seven habits for highly resilient people. Things that you can do over the course of your day and your week that will set you up to move through this storm that much better and to come out the other side of it that much better off. That doesn't mean that there won't be circumstances that you're dealing with that you don't like. There won't be situations that you find challenging. But it does mean that you have within you the ability to process and to respond to the situations and the stresses that you're facing wholly better ways. And that allow you to become more of the person, the leader, the business owner that you have it within you to be. So what can you do? Number one is ground yourself in self certainty. A study by Stanford University found that people who went into a negotiation, it was a stressful situation, but who primed themselves beforehand with their values and their strengths and really connected to who it was that they wanted to be and to what it is that they're really good at and to the intentions that they had for that negotiation were far more effective. They had more confidence and they struggled less with self doubt. Likewise, right now a lot of us are finding ourselves feeling a little bit ungrounded and doubts start to rise up. And so just like oaks, take deeper roots when the storms blow in. Right now we have to look within ourselves for the certainty that we cannot find elsewhere. We need to really anchor ourselves, ground ourselves in the values and the attributes that we want our lives to stand for that could be calm or optimism, purpose, integrity, community, courage, generosity. I encourage you to get really clear about who is it that you want to be be through this crisis and of course, out beyond it. Take some time to think about what are the values that you really want to embody and live by through this time. The second habit is to double down or triple down on those rituals and those practices that help you bring your best self to and Play your best game to the challenges you're dealing with. So physically, what are you doing for yourself every day that allows you to have the energy you want, that allows you to feel healthy? If all you do is stress about getting sick, it actually makes your immune system more likely to get sick. If all you do is think about everything that's wrong, that's actually going to keep you from taking the actions to make things more right. So physically, what are the activities that you can engage in to feel stronger? Getting out and exercising, doing something for yourself physically is just vital to your psychological wellbeing. Secondly, mentally making sure you're prioritizing your time, creating some routines in your life if you've lost them, so that you can structure your day in ways that allow you to focus on what matters most, on those highest value activities, and not get caught up in all of those trivial things that can so often consume so much of our best thinking time. Emotionally, making sure you're feeling confident, that you're feeling grateful for all the blessings you do have in your life, that you're able to reel in that stressful thinking and that you feel connected to others. And spiritually, what is it that anchors you to what gives you a sense of purpose and meaning? Those of us who are able to operate from purpose during this time can be so much more resilient than those people who don't have that sense of purpose. Purpose who can't see any meaning from the hardship that they're dealing with. I recently did this myself when my husband was diagnosed with COVID 19. In the first 24 hours after he was hospitalized, I found myself feeling extremely overwhelmed and really anxious. And I sat down, I got out my journal. It's a ritual I've had for many, many years that I practice often. But I got out that journal that first morning after he was hospitalized. And I. I connected to what it is that brings me a sense of meaning and purpose. My work is something that I feel very strongly about. And so I decided that I would use my own struggle and my own experience through his time in hospital and then in quarantine, which was 30 days, to really live my purpose in a really powerful way. And I encourage you to get on purpose right now. The third key habit is to practice abundant self compassion to get off your own back at times like this. None of us feel on top of life all the time. None of us are playing our A game all of the time. None of us are immune to anxiety, or are immune to self pity, or are immune to comparisons and those patterns of behavior that can keep us from being our best selves, from bringing our best thinking to our challenges. So when you find yourself getting down on yourself, imagine what the most loving person you know would say to you in that moment. Be kind to yourself. Cut yourself some slack. I've taken a lot more naps in recent times than I usually do instead of kind of pushing my way through the day and I've got to maximize my productivity. I've taken a lot more time to just nurture myself, to just be kind to myself. And when I'm having one of those Alexander's horrible, terrible, no good, very bad days to give myself permission to feel not so great and to really feel whatever feelings are coming up, to feel into those feelings fully. If I'm feeling sad, to feel the sadness. My son's missing his high school graduation. I have a couple of children on the other side of the world from me. I can't see my parents right now. Yes, I don't want to get stuck in self pity. None of us want to be in that place because that doesn't serve us. But we also need to acknowledge whatever emotions are there with self compassion, remembering that if compassion doesn't include yourself, it's incomplete. And the kinder we are to ourselves, the more forgiving we are to ourselves, the more it allows us to be forgiving with others. Because other people are waging their own battles too. The fourth habit is to stay socially connected. I know we need to practice social distancing, but never before has it been so important to be connected to people around us. The research shows that people who have strong social networks are able to thrive through life that much better have higher levels of well being. The Harvard study, the longest longitudinal study in history, found that those who did manage to get through life, to live the longest life, have the highest quality of life were people who had strong social connections, who felt a sense of belonging, who felt included and who nurtured those connections. So I encourage you to reach out to people. I've been setting up daily chats with friends all over the world, whether in the morning with a cup of tea or in the evening with a glass of wine. And actually have been spending more time catching up with friends than I often do. Those social connections really help to fuel our own resilience. And nothing helps us ride through life storms better than when we know other people have got our back and we've got others. And I want to just make a special mention here. If you're doing it tough, if you are struggling mentally. Don't let pride or fear of appearing weak get in the way of you reaching out to people, of asking for help, of revealing the truth of your life right now. One, it allows other people to help you. But two, in allowing others to support you and in being vulnerable, you forge a far more meaningful connection with them than you would ever forge otherwise. We connect with people far more deeply through our struggles and through our setbacks, through our hardships and our heartaches, than we do through our victories and our triumphs and all of our successes. So let people into your world and make sure that you aren't putting on a facade of I've got it all together. Because asking for help doesn't reveal weakness. It actually shows how committed you are to being strong. And it's a real act of courage and compassion for yourself and for those who would want nothing more than to support you. The fifth key habit is to stand guard on your energy and on those people also who may drain it and on those sources of negativity that may drain it. Ships don't sink because of the water around them. They sink because of the water that gets in them. And in times like this, when there is so much negativity around us, when you only have to pick up your phone or watch the TV and you are bombarded with reasons to feel afraid, to hunker down, to become anxious, we have to set boundaries. So we have to take 100% responsibility for the energy that we let in to our orbit. And yes, there may be some people that you need to deal with that are negative. Do what you can to minimize how much you're taking on of them. Maybe you need to actually set a boundary with them and say, look, I just don't want to get pulled into those conversations. I don't want to spend a half an hour talking about all of the things that are wrong. I want to talk about what we can do right now to make the most of this time. Which brings me to the sixth habit, and that is to actively seek out the good. Napoleon Hill wrote in Think and Grow Rich, every adversity holds the seed of an equal or greater benefit. But of course, we have to look for those seeds. We have to water those seeds, and we have to wait patiently for them. And so for you right now, I encourage you, look at the challenges you're dealing with for the opportunity they hold. There is opportunity in them. I do a lot of keynote speaking at conferences, and right now there's not many conferences on. And so I've Started doing a lot more virtual programs, running virtual workshops, facilitating virtual team gatherings. And you know, I know that long after this crisis has passed, I'll be doing more virtual work. And that's a great. That's getting on a plane less often. Of course, I will still be enjoying getting together with people when we can come together again. But for all of us right now, there are opportunities. But if we're just focused on all the doors that are closing, it keeps us from identifying the doors that are open or the ones that we could open. And we know from the research that when people are just focused on what's wrong and what's missing, it literally physiologically limits our peripheral vision and keeps us from seeing a wider span of possibilities for ourselves and for others. And the seventh habit is to be a source of good for others. So yes, you need to stand guard and take 100% responsibility for the energy you let in, but you also need to take 100% responsibility for the energy you put out. Look around you and ask yourself, how can I be a greater source of good for others? When you are deliberate in your focus and looking at how you can lift other people up, how you can add more value for others, that's going to come back to you in ways that are beyond anything that you can imagine. Maybe it'll take a little time, but I can assure you that will come back. And simply by engaging in an act of kindness, in an act of contribution, in being on purpose, in sharing your gifts, your expertise, your resources in ways that benefit and elevate others, it not only helps to boost your own immune system and your own well being, but it boosts that of everybody else who bears witness to you doing what you're doing and helps encourage them. And it becomes very, very self affirming. And it sends out a ripple effect that not only makes you more resilient, but helps to make everybody else more resilient too. So be the change that you want to see, extend the generosity that you would love to receive, double down on what strengthens you. Get on purpose and trust yourself that within you, you have everything it takes to meet each challenge as it unfolds, to meet each moment as it arises, and not only to meet it, but to thrive from it and to immerse out the other side of this crisis as someone who is far more connected to their own strengths and to their own value and is able to provide even more value in the world and in ways that ultimately will set you and everyone else up for profoundly positive transformation. Thank you Take care and I wish you well. Just remember, you've got this.

What a great lesson from Margie Worll. The only thing that's guaranteed in life is change. Things will change and some changes are challenging. We call those problems or crises. We know this is going to happen. We know this is down the road if it's not at our doorstep already. This is why it's so important to be ready, to train ourselves to be ready. So when it does happen, we're not phased. It doesn't shake everything we've built. It doesn't shake ourselves or our business. We're prepared. One of the things I find helpful when you're going through a really tough time in your business, in your life, in whatever, is to recognize the fact that it's not fun, that it stinks. Right? This situation is not good. I don't like it. Just call it for what it is. Just allow yourself to say that. Now what this does is that it recognizes this is a bad situation. I don't like this situation. When you don't like a situation, the next question is how do I change it? How do I improve it? How do I get out of this? How do I make sure I don't stay here for too long? The problem I found is that many people will stay in that state of this stinks for so long, they won't get past it. They just feel sorry for themselves and sometimes they quit. Meaning they even quit their own business and they give up on their dreams. This is why I like to say this stinks, but this stinks, but I'm going to get out of it. This stinks, but there is a solution to every problem. This stinks, but it's not the end of the world. What can I do to improve the situation? You'd be surprised how many options are actually in your disposal how you can really change things, even just slightly. I remember about eight years ago I was living in New York and Hurricane Sandy happened. All of New York was out of power for over a week and I had a client project due. I think the second or third day after the power went out and the entirety of New York had no power. It was almost impossible for me to fire up my laptop and get to work and deliver my project. As soon as this happened. I knew that it could take a while before we had power. So I emailed the client. I said, hey, I'm not going to hit the deadline because I'm in New York. And if you heard hurricane Insanity happened, the client was not having. It was Like, I'm sorry, you got to hit the deadline. I need this project done by then. I replied back and said, hey, I'll try to figure something out. I'll be in touch letting you know how things are going. After doing a bit of research, I walked about 25 blocks to the New York City Public Library, which had a generator, had some power, and there were like hundreds of people there charging their phones and working off their laptops. There wasn't a single spot for me, but I sat there for hours waiting for a spot to open up. Finally, after like four hours, somebody got up, I sat in their place, I plugged in my laptop, and I think I worked about eight hours straight and just focused on getting the project done. I delivered it even early. I let the client know. I figured out a way, even though the situation was horrible, you know, even the conditions I was working in, I was in this very, very loud public library because people complaining and yelling are on phone calls and it was a very, very distracting place to work. But I just managed to zone in, put in my headphones and just got the work done. The point here is that when it happened, I was like, man, this stinks. There's nothing I could do, right? There's nothing I can do. The power went out, the client is not budging. I got to figure out a way to make this happen. I got to do something extraordinary, something that I don't normally do, to get over this hump, to find a solution and make an effort to deliver for my customer. Thank you so much for listening to the $100 MBA show. If you love what you hear, hit subscribe right now. Also check out our new 10 part audio course over at Himalaya.com MBA we partnered up with Himalaya Learning to launch start your first online business. A 10 part audio course on exactly that. How to nail your business idea, how to turn it to a reality, how to finance it, how to set your prices, how to build your product, how to build your business website and more. And get this, because you're a listener of the show, use code MBA and you'll get a free 14 day trial. This is an exclusive 14 day trial for my people. Normally it's 7 days. So go ahead and go to himalaya.com MBA use code MBA and check out my 10 part audio course called Start yout First Online Business. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. A lot of people pitch starting your own business or lifestyle business as this like laptop on the beach, laying in a hammock lifestyle. No worries, no problems. Here's a little secret that's never going to be true because that's not how life works, okay? Secondly, you don't want that. You actually don't want that. You want challenges. You want to overcome challenge. That's what makes us human. That's what makes us feel a sense of accomplishment. Obviously, we don't want major crises where we're in danger in some way. But even if those happen, us overcoming it gives us that sense of, hey, we've overcome a threat. And that's actually hardwired in from centuries, right? Hardwired it into us overcoming threats. So we're actually built to feel good about overcoming challenges. So not having any challenges in your life is actually no life at all. Thank you so much for listening and I'll check you in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

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