Is that it? Think again

The world ended today.

The world we have known.

Everything we cherished was incinerated in the white heat of a virus fever.

Countries ran for cover, cities emptied as life gradually ground to a halt around the globe.

The civilisation we had known, and loved, slowly and definitively ended on account of flu and a few thousand deaths.

Okay, tonight, this is maybe how it sounds on the mainstream media. The economy was busted by a flu in just a few days. Now the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have to spend “zillions” of dollars/pounds neither of which they have to send every citizen a food check.

Okay, I get it. This coronavirus is a serious threat to public health. But does it have to destroy the whole economy of the Western World?

Then again, maybe, it’s just a wake-up call.  What it shows is how broken the existing state controlled economy really is. If the state has to intervene to prop up and then take over your business then it begs the question what sort of business did you have in the first place?

People reading this blog are mainly entrepreneurs. We know all about starting with nothing and then making something. So, yes, we all crash landed this week. Good, it gives us a chance to rethink, regroup and then retake the ground lost.

Did you really build a business on State handouts? Did the State give you any help? Did the State risk anything when you were starting out? No, nothing, nada, nil, zilch – that was the State involvement then, and it’s best to keep it that way.

Let’s leave the rest to their government bailouts; we’ll bail out our own canoes and in our own way and in our own time.

Of these latest events, let me quote my good friend, Perry Marshall: “A disaster like COVID-19 is turning out to be the only way that the existing inadequate structures were ever going to crack and break.”

Get it? It’s crash and burn time for the dead wood.

Now, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself: are you done now? Are you finished? Are you the ‘dead wood’?

No, I didn’t think so, me neither.

Every crisis is an opportunity. This crisis is a huge one, so that makes it a huge opportunity – but only for some.

It’ll take guts to come back from this. I’m not saying anything different from the mainstream media on this; this is one hell of a disaster on a number of levels. But, and here’s the thing, some will come back, and stronger than before.

And you know what it will take for that to happen: guts. That’s right, guts, grit, true grit even, courage and hard work, not government handouts.

Here’s my friend Perry once more: “In the last 12 hours I’ve had a surprising number of conversations about how bureaucracy is being broken down by the coronavirus. The FDA began relaxing medical regulations to speed detection and inoculation efforts for COVID-19. Regulations in the mortgage industry are being relaxed to allow electronic loans to be processed; inspectors do not have to necessarily go inside of houses; and papers no longer always have to be signed In-person. Huge insurance companies are adding coverage in the state of Illinois for remote medical check-ups. This change was executed in less than 24 hours. A woman I talked to this morning said she thought this would take years.”

Interesting right, but he goes on to make this point: “People had already been trying their level best for ‘many years’ to change all these things, and in many cases gotten nowhere.” Now what he is not saying is let’s all “celebrate” something that is a disaster for many, for some a fatal one. No, he is not saying that. What he is saying is: “CRISIS is the only way that massive evolution happens on planet Earth. We entrepreneurs are evolutionary creatures. We are THE evolution drivers of society. We are the ones that respond to crises and we are the ones who innovate. We are quick starters… Sometimes we are low on follow-through, but we get our ass in gear when it’s time to get our ass in gear.”

So let’s get it in gear today, tomorrow, the next day and the day after that. You like a challenge, so do I, well we all have one hell of a challenge now. So we’d better get ourselves in gear and get moving.

Something has changed. No doubt about it. But you haven’t. The skills and the attitudes that brought you success are still there. If that is the case then why should you ever settle for anything less than success, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes.

Perry calls it: Hyper-Evolution.  He explains it thus: “The process IS painful. It is also likely the ONLY way you will be able to receive some of the biggest things in your life and in the world that you have been long wishing for. Embrace the bends in the road with equanimity. NOW is the time to get your ass in gear. Now is the time to question ALL assumptions. Its also the time to let the chaos spin, stand back and begin asking yourself: What is ‘really’ wrong here?”

Perry concludes as follows: “You may find that you are asking yourself that question for the very first time. Here’s to fresh eyes and ears for all of us.”

Wise words in a hailstorm of noise, let’s heed them and move forward, the day is not yet over – not by a long way – and we have much to do – and achieve.