We’re living some interesting times, and I think you can agree a lot of things are happening for the first time that we’ve never experienced in our lives. A lot of it is obviously due to the pandemic around COVID but the ripple effects carry on. 

Here in the United States,over 50 million people have filed for unemployment since the start of the pandemic. 

Small and large businesses all around the world are closing down or filing for bankruptcy. Things like movie theaters, gyms, and restaurants are closed in many places around the country and around the world; and even though things are reopening and some places are seeing lower numbers, there is no arguing this pandemic is affecting many people and having some serious ripple effects all around the world. 

Loss, Hardships, and Failures

What makes matters worse is a lot of people are experiencing heartbreaking losses, losses of loved ones because of the pandemic, but also losses of jobs, losses of stability, and comfort. People are facing hardships and failures and having to figure out what they’re going to do with their lives. 

More and more people are spending time at home, which means that either you’re spending more time with family or you’re spending more time alone, and that in itself has an effect. 

Work Life

Jobs are not the same. If you’re living in a place where you can’t go to work or you haven’t to work remotely, that in itself creates a whole different environment on a day to day basis. All of that, to say that things are changing. And we know that in life change is a constant. There’s no doubt that change is a constant and change is going to happen in all areas of our lives throughout our lives. But this is something where now millions and millions of people around the world are experiencing a lot of the same changes at the same time, and that’s unique. 

The COVID PIVOT

So why am I calling it a COVID PIVOT? Well, pivoting is something I talked about in part four of the C.L.A.P. Method. If you remember, the C.L.A.P. Method stands for 

• Clarity, 
• Learning 
• Action and 
• Pivot 

It is the ultimate success formula.

Clarity

You want to get clear because you want to figure out who you are, what you want out of life, and ultimately why you want, what you want. And right now is a perfect time to go back to the drawing board and get clarity again about what’s important to you, get clarity around those core values. 

External circumstances do not have to dictate your life. They should only be changing your approach to what you want and who you’re becoming. So get clear right now is also the perfect time to be learning. 

Learning

We always want to be learning, but now more than ever, if you have downtime because you’re not commuting, or you have downtime because you’re at home right now is a to start learning new skill sets, maybe picking up something that you’ve been wanting to learn for a long time, or just gaining more knowledge and skillsets around the areas that you’re focused on.

I’ve taken this time to read more books, to take some courses, to learn things that are helping me in this pivot. 

Action

Well, the third step of the C.L.A.P. Method is action, and this is where people,  I think, have reached some sort of wall because, you know, maybe they were taking action. Maybe they were going to work. Maybe they had a job. Maybe they were working on a business, and because of everything that has been going on, they’re completely confused about what to do next. 

Things are not the same, and I believe they’re not going to be the same because change is constant. So we have to adapt. 

Pivot

We have to pivot that fourth step in the C.L.A.P. Method is pivoting. The reason why it’s so important is that this is exactly what the formula is for. When things do not go your way, when things are changing around you, when you don’t reach your desired outcome right away, this is exactly when we’re supposed to be pivoting and pivoting is interesting because it does require you to have first a sense of faith, belief, or hope that things will be better in the future. Otherwise, you fall into hopelessness, depression, and negativity. 

How to Practice Faith

You can open the gateway to faith, and hope by simply practicing gratitude, and by practicing being still; by quieting the noises,

• the noises of social media, 
• the noises of societal demands and responsibilities, 
• the noises from jobs and friends and acquaintances and family, and 
• just finding a place and finding a space where you can be still, if you do that and you practice gratitude, you open the gateway to being centered in obtaining more clarity and peace.

And that’s a really important piece is something you cannot take for granted. It is something that when you have it, you know, you do your content. Things are still regardless of what might be happening on the outside, having that inner peace is truly important, but 

you cannot have that inner peace unless you’re centered and you cannot be centered unless you’ve created the space to practice gratitude and be still. 

You must develop those mental and emotional muscles to find that inner peace and inner centeredness.

Finding Opportunities

These interesting times also create a space for you to look around and find opportunities that were not there before. It could be as simple as you have the opportunity now to pursue a different path because you lost your job, or because you have more time at home, you now have the opportunity to learn something new, but it’s also an opportunity to simply look at the situation around you and find a different way of going about things.

You’re special and you have something special that you must share with the world. I want to invite you to look at what you’re doing right now and what emotions you’re experiencing more and more on a day to day basis and get back to getting clarity on who you’re being, who do you want to be despite what might be happening on the outside? What might be happening with politics, with the economy, with jobs, none of that has to affect your inner peace and your sense of alignment. It might just change your approach, your strategy, your tactics, your objectives, all those things might change. The immediate goals that you’re pursuing might change, but that’s okay. That’s life and change is a constant in life. 

We have to be able to not only adapt to that change but thrive around change. 

There are three very important questions you want to ask yourself to pivot effectively: 

1. Where are you? In life, with your goals, with your priorities, with your health? 
2. You want to ask yourself what opportunities might there be around me. If you’re looking for opportunities, you’re going to find them, but you have to be open to them. You have to think outside the box. Is there an opportunity now to focus on writing your book or launching an online course or pursuing a different career path because jobs are opening up in certain sectors and closing and others, do you have the opportunity now to rekindle relationships with your loved ones, maybe relationships you’ve neglected. Maybe you have downtime now to take care of your health, what opportunities do you have? Stay open to them and stay grateful. 
3. What can you, and what will you do next? Waiting around for things to go back to normal is not the answer because there is no normal and things will not go back to the way they were. The world is changing and it’s changing fast and we have to pivot and we have to adapt. And I want to encourage you to do that. And you do that effectively by learning and by staying open to opportunities and by figuring out where you’re at and who you want to be in finding different ways to go about and your path, 

I know you have something special and you have greatness within you. Otherwise, you would not have read this blog post. So I’m speaking to you, don’t lose faith. Believe that things will get better. That your best days are still ahead. No matter what’s happened in the past, no matter what mistakes you might’ve made, no matter what circumstances; your past will not dictate your future. The future is a blank canvas that you can start writing on, creating, or painting on it right now, make a decision that your best life is still ahead of you, pivot, pivot often. Until next time, keep living your best life!