This week:
Getting into the Positive
Who Do I Want To Be During COVID-19?
This helped me take stock of my options and pick which Neville is going to show up…
Use Me with the Delectable Bill Withers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hBYTkI-sE
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE with Jon G:
The NCAA basketball tournament is normally held every March and it’s called March Madness. While they didn’t host the event this year because of the Corona Virus, we certainly experienced our own different version of March Madness.
Every text and email and conversation with friends and clients seemed to begin with, “This is crazy.” It felt like we were living in a bad movie experiencing a surreal moment that made you confront the reality that this isn’t a game or a movie, but life as we know it. Each morning I woke up wondering if it was just a bad dream only to turn on the news and understand the seriousness of this situation.
The goal of basketball teams during March Madness is to survive and advance. Teams want to somehow, someway make it through one round to advance to the next. How they do it doesn’t have to be pretty. They may not play their best. They may not thrive. They just want to win the battle today to give themselves a shot to compete in the next round where they hope to adapt and ultimately thrive.
From a physical standpoint it’s the goal for all of us in April and the upcoming months. We have a new version of a virus that we haven’t experienced before. The goal, if you get it, is to survive with a strong immune system, win the battle today, advance and allow your body to adapt (develop antibodies) so you can ultimately be stronger and thrive in the future.
From an economic, business and career standpoint for most of us the goal is the same. This year is likely not going to be great unless you are a grocery store, Amazon, Wall Mart, and make toilet paper. The goal is to find a way to survive so you can advance. As you advance you can then adapt and seek to thrive in the future.
Survive. Advance. Adapt. Thrive.
It’s going to look different for each of us depending on our job, company, industry, situation etc. But the goal should be the same and I hope these four words help you. I keep saying them to myself each day as I take on this challenge with you.
If you watched my Positive Summit video I talked about The Shark and the Goldfish that I wrote during the great recession about my experience losing my job during the dot.com crash. It’s the story of a goldfish that has always been fed. He gets brought to the beach and a wave of change hits and takes the goldfish back into the ocean with it. He must learn how to survive, advance, and adapt so he can thrive. He meets a nice shark that teaches him how to find food and how to adapt so he can ride the wave of a change to a successful future. It’s a story for this time.
We’ve been hit by a massive wave of change. For most of us this is not a year that we are thinking about thriving. For many we are just trying to keep our head above water, pay our bills, feed our family, teach our kids, keep our homes, deal with the fear and anxiety, stay healthy and make it to another day.
In this spirit, let’s look at the ocean of possibilities and maintain optimism and hope. Optimism is not a supplemental way to think. It’s an essential way to think to overcome adversity and waves of change.
Let’s look for ways to survive and be creative and innovative so we can advance and adapt that will allow us to thrive once again in the future.
Through this process when we look back on this time we’ll learn that surviving allowed us to advance, our discomfort lead to our growth, the change made us adapt, and adapting made us stronger which helped us thrive as a result.
-Jon
P.S., If you’d like us to send you a daily positive message to help, sign up for free at DailyPositive.com
When The Motor Stops:
With СОVID-19 spreading in Michigan, ad agency Doner, headquartered in Detroit since the 1930s, chose to send a message of strength and resilience to its city in the form of its new video
https://youtu.be/W7C1GAPsPbI
The F-Virus with Prince Ea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBi85WjeDyg&feature=youtu.be
Helping leaders in college reboot with Seth Godin
We’re announcing a free intensive today, especially for people who are finding their college journey disrupted right now.
If you know someone in that situation, I hope you’ll forward this on to them.
We’re looking for some students ready to leap forward. To shift from education to learning, from following to leading, from holding back to leaning in.
The months and years after school are often fragile. The pressure is on, trajectories are being set, and most of us were probably without a clue. Doing that in the middle of this disruption has to be significantly harder, and we’re trying to help.
The typical reader of this blog skews older than that, but you might know precisely the right people for this program.
It’s a five-day sprint, a virtual program with daily zoom calls, an insane amount of group work and a shift toward a posture of possibility.
You can see all the details and the application here.
We can all be Right Responders, we can ALL Make a Difference:
Mission Fed set up a dollar for dollar match up to $50,000 to the San Diego Food Bank to support those struggling with adequate access to food in our community.
As of this writing we have already raised $79,765, thanks to generous support but the need remains mission critical! Here is a spot to get the word out:
Click the link below to donate any amount and help support fellow San Diegans.
Have you been watching Tiger King?
Would You Be Willing to Be An Animal Angel?
My wife and daughter belong to a wonderful organization called Lions, Tigers and Bears, a sanctuary for, you guessed it, Lions, Tigers and Bears!
Long story short, the organization is run by founder Bobbi Brooks – who serendipitously discovered that a huge exotic animal trade exists in the USA. Bobbi uncovered this while looking in the “For Sale” section of New York newspapers years and years ago. She was a restaurateur looking to purchase restaurant equipment and below “R” for restaurants she kept noticing under “T” – Tigers for Sale. She became curious, started investigating the situation and here we are many, many years later. Very importantly, Bobbi has been instrumental in passing legislation to end private ownership of exotic pets. Read more about Bobbi here: https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/meet-the-team
So, to continue the story, Bobbi started rescuing privately owned exotic animals kept in terrible conditions and now has a beautiful 93-acre facility that houses more than 60 exotic animals in Alpine – just a short drive on Interstate 8 east. When Bobbi uncovers an exotic animal that is kept as a pet, she firstly tries to place the animal in a zoo or other appropriate environment – but when that fails, she brings the unplaceable animal to Lions Tigers & Bears. In fact, she has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles across the USA to rescue animals transporting them to Alpine in a trailer! What I like so much about this shelter is the no touch, no breed, no kill policy. Her facility is not a money-making amusement park, rather it is a last chance sanctuary and forever home for these exotic animals who would otherwise be euthanized. Learn more about her sanctuary here: https://www.lionstigersandbears.org
Fortunately, these rescued animals have amazing habitats – spacious with pools and plenty of food to eat. I’m sure you can imagine the cost — $20,000 a month! Lions, Tigers and Bears do have fund-raising events which as a family, we have enjoyed. But, of course, these activities are suspended during COVID-19. As such, I am asking you today for a donation. Any amount that you can give will be a benefit. Also, rest assured that 100% of what you give goes directly to food and shelter.
Please visit their website to learn more: https://www.lionstigersandbears.org . And check out the amazing and beautiful animals.
My favorite animal is Bakari https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/our-animals/lions/bakari – the lion – such a handsome boy! Aysha, the future Anthro-zoologist, her favorite is Meatball https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/our-animals/bears/meatball – the bear. Such a great story about Meatball. Thank you. Be well! Love Barbara and Aysha
You can donate here if you are so inclined: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/LTB/BarbaraSedgwickBillimoria
Bill Withers of ‘Lean On Me’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ fame dies at age 81 from Heart Complications:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lean-on-me-aint-no-sunshine-singer-bill-withers-dies-at-age-81-2020-04-03?mod=nextup_bomw
Thanks this week go to Vicente R, Bob C, DJ K, Barbara and Aysha SB, Michelle G, and the inestimable soul brother Bill Withers!
Please pay it forward.
Love,
Neville
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“When your legs are tired, walk with your heart.”—Paulo Coelho
Happy Soul Food Friday! 