“If I wanted to find a partner who was a better cook than me, I’d have to marry a professional chef.”
That was what my 19-year-old son said the other night when we were talking at the dinner table. Rather than bravado, we both agreed it was just a statement of fact. You see, he’s been cooking since he was 8. Because at age 2, we found out he had a peanut allergy. We had to bring our own birthday cake to his friends’ parties and pack our own food almost everywhere we went. So we cooked. A lot.
What Happens When Things Don’t Go as Expected?
Our son’s food allergy brought a completely unexpected layer to how we had to plan and move forward in our daily lives (plus there was constant anxiety that danger was lurking whenever we went out.) I think of the changes we had to make back then, looking now at how we’ve all had to pivot this year. Yes, 2020 has been one big whirlwind (or insert your own descriptor here).
With nearly six weeks left, it’s not too late to make positive changes.
Here are some ideas to drive forward motion during the home stretch of 2020. With personal and professional lines so blurred nowadays anyway (especially if you’re working from home)—any forward momentum is good because it will generate ripples in other areas of your life and business. After all, creativity begets creativity.
Before the end of 2020, see how you can…
Learn Something New:
What’s something you’ve seen someone else do that would help your business? Pick one thing and learn it. Learn how to listen to podcasts (or learn how TO podcast!). Follow an Instagram influencer (or find out what an Instagram influencer is).
Make Videos. Broadcast to Facebook Live. By the way, a fantastic benefit of starting a public broadcast is the ability to connect with your audience—engaging with your current audience or gaining new followers as you create content. Will it mean new business? Maybe! But is has 100% more chance of generating business than doing nothing.
Support Someone Who is Doing Something Amazing:
If you know someone who has written a book, read it and write a review. Better yet, host a reading and call it a “salon.” (a tres chic name for a book club) A friend just did that with her friend, NPR correspondent Aarti Namdev Shahani’s book, Here We Are. We brought the wine, my friend set up the Zoom room, and Aarti shared her story. (And my friend sent a copy of the book to everyone to read afterwards. What a “WOW!” experience.)
Brighten Someone’s Day:
Send a text to check-in on someone. Call your mother. When you reach out, be sincere and be all in. If you ask someone how they are, and they respond they are not well, which is a real possibility, be prepared to be fully present and engaged.
There’s so much we can’t do right now, and spending time focusing on that is a waste. That time is going to pass anyway, so you might as well spend it on something you CAN do.