I sit here writing this during the great lock down of 2020 due to the Corona Virus or COVID 19.  This is probably the largest crisis I have had to deal with.  I have been through many others before such as tornados, floods, and hurricanes.  However, those all had short lived impacts on how long my family and I were forced into isolation.  The aftermaths in my community was horrendous in a few of those.

After one hurricane, our neighborhood was without power for two weeks.  That time will always have a special place in my memory as everyone was out side enjoying each other’s company at night and doing things together.  It was one of the best times to be in our neighborhood.  Once the power came back on, everyone went back into their houses and turned on the tv or surfed.  I digress.

The Chinese word for crisis has two characters that mean danger and opportunity.  The is some debate in the literature whether or not that is what the Chinese word means; however, the true source and meaning of the word is irrelevant here.  This is still a time of danger AND opportunity.

First, this is a time of danger.  This is a time of danger in terms of getting the virus – especially for the elderly.  It is also a time of danger financially for many who will lose jobs because of the quarantines and shelter in place orders.  Retirees are in a place of danger financially as well as the stock market as crashed.  Many people feel very uncertain about this time.

Any time one of us now goes out to do business, buy groceries, etc. we are at risk of contracting the virus.  The people working at the grocery store and other essential businesses are at higher risk by being around others.  Lastly, the health care professionals are at even higher risk as they are around confirmed cases of the virus.  Please thank those working in areas that are in higher risk for doing their jobs and providing service.

However, this is also a time of great opportunity for many.  You might be asking yourself, “How is this a time of opportunity?”  I will explain below.  Everyone’s situation is different, so you may have to think differently for your particular situation than what I discuss below.

With many of us stuck in our houses and working from home during the virus, many of us have been given the gift of time.  I am currently working my job from home.  Directly, this gives me an hour and half or so back to my day as I am not having to commute.  How many others are given even more time due to lack of commuting.

I am also not doing things that I would be at the office, so my day can be more productive.  This has given me time to catch up on things at work that have needed to get done but I did not have time for doing.  For you, this might mean innovating and coming up with new ideas for your line of work.  Take the extra time and be a leader in your field.  When you return to the office, this can make you stand out to your management.

Since we are given more time – either through work or other canceled activities, we need to make the most of this gift. Time is the one thing we are all given equally on a daily basis. Do you make the most of yours?

Are there things you have been meaning to do, but you have not gotten around to doing them?  This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity for this!  Do you need to spend more time with your children?  Do you need to call someone close that you have not talked with in a while?  This is great time for phone calls and catching up with friends and relatives.  Are there projects around the house that need attention or completion?  Do you need to start a new business?

I really recommend you spend some time reflecting on what it is you need or want out of this time of crisis. As always, I will tell you to WRITE IT DOWN!

There are other ways this time can be an opportunity.  Maybe an opportunity to serve others by finding someone to help who cannot get out to get groceries.  The stock market is a great time to buy as history tells us that it will go up and now is a time to buy stocks on sale.  The list goes on.

I do not know what you need, want, or should do, but are you going to look back at this time months from now and regret you did not use this time more wisely?  Do not let this opportunity pass you by!

Joel 2:28 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

We all have disappointments in life.  Things do not go as planned.  Dreams can be shattered.

When we were kids, we all dreamed about what we might be when we “grow up.”  Besides a handful of people, most of us are doing nothing like we imagined or planned.  Even out of college, or older, our visions of the future are not reality.

Sometimes our dreams fail to materialize due to life’s disappointments.  We may not get that promotion at work even though we’ve worked our tails off.  It may be that we were just not talented enough to obtain that particular goal and plans.  We may have missed out due to fear or laziness.  We may have found out our dream in life was not so dreamy after all and we’ve decided to move in a different direction – or at least not pursue that particular dream.

We may have actually achieved our dream, but it’s not what we thought.  I dreamed of being a professor, which is why I pursued my Ph.D.  After becoming a professor, I found out it was not exactly what I thought it would be and there were things about it I really did not like.  I ended up going to industry where I have been much happier and doing many of the things that I wanted to do as a professor.

Lastly, what do we do when we achieve our dream?  Do we sit idle?  You may be living your dream and everything is great.  If that is the case, then maybe you can ignore this post.  At some point though, it’s likely that you will want to grow and expand again.

Whatever the reason our dreams did not come to pass, ended etc., we need to stop and dream a NEW dream.  Dreaming a new dream will give you a new outlook purpose on life.

The Las Vegas casinos are AMAZING.  What amazes me more, is the business model that casinos use to make money.  The whole business model is based on probability and statistics – something most Americans do not understand.  Casinos owners know that there will be winners and losers on any given night.  In fact, casino owners actually want winners (why would anyone go otherwise); however, casinos – using the laws of probability and statistics – know that eventually they are going to win more than they lose.

Take roulette for instance.  In addition to red and black squares, there are two green 0 squares (0 and 00 – European tables only have one green square).  If the green squares were not there, the odds of you winning would be 50-50.  But the casinos realize that by adding the green squares, the odds of you winning lower to 47.37%.  The casino is confident enough with a 52.67% of winning to put this game on the floor knowing they will take in more money than they lose.

Luck plays a major part in our successes.  However, you need to ensure that you put odds in your favor – just like the casinos.  This could be big things like getting a college degree or other educational improvement.  This could be smaller things like showing up for work on time and putting in a hard day’s work.  Eating right, exercising, and taking care of ourselves are other ways to put better odds in our favor.  Someone who is fit is more likely to be considered smarter and attractive than those who are not.  Also, being healthy allows you to work harder, longer, and with a clearer mind than someone less healthy.  These in and of themselves do not guarantee success.  Over time however, the little wins in life are likely to add up to bigger payouts.

Think about the things that you can do to give you an edge.  This may be things you need to quit doing (e.g., checking personal email at work, eating desert etc.).  Remember that the things you do may not result in big gain right away, but just like the casinos you can know that putting the odds in your favor should ultimately pay off.  Remember, the longer you put the odds in your favor, the bigger the payoff may be over the course of your life.

In the movie “Spinal Tap” about a made up rock band and their exploits, there is a scene where the interviewer is asking about the guitarist about an amplifier where the numbers on the volume go to “11” instead of “10” as on all the other amplifiers.  The guitarist explained when 10 was not enough and he needed that little bit extra volume to push it over the edge he would go to 11.  The interviewer asked if they could not just make 11 on the amplifier a 10 instead like the other amplifiers.  The guitarist looked puzzled and said, “but this on goes to 11.”

Many times, in life we give enough that we have thought we have given a 10 and that everything is perfect.  Sometimes the 10 is just not enough and we need to give it just a little bit more.  There are other times we think we have pulled off a “10” when in the judgement of others we’ve only pulled off an “8.” 

An example of this is can be studying for a test or giving a presentation.  We think we know the material or have practiced enough.  In reality, we need to go as far as we think we need to plus just a little bit more to pull off what we want.  When I taught engineering courses, I gave hard tests.  I would always tell my students that they should know the material plus a little bit more. 

Remember, if we are in competition with others for something we want, they may be bringing a “10+” while we are only at a “10.”  This could be a job, a sports competition etc.  We really don’t know what they are bringing beforehand.  In some cases, like in a job interview we may never know our competition is bringing.  We must also remember that some peoples “8” is better than our “10,” so we must be at our best to win the day.

In reality, we need to use our judgement on when to take things to “11.”  Not everything needs to be perfect.  It’s okay for you to leave a spot in the kitchen sink from time to time while cleaning the house.  It would be unwise to put next level energy into everything we do -we’d be exhausted.  There are other things like job interviews, work presentations to a customer, that need much more refinement. 

When you go into a project, presentation, job interview etc., decide on whether you need a 10 or not. If you do need a 10, take it to the next level and take it to 11.

One of the hardest part of any job is to get things going.  It is easy to plan and procrastinate and not get anything done.  I have put off starting this web site for over a year now.

Planning is important, but you also want to make sure action is taking place in terms of doing things.  You want to make sure you can build momentum. 

Momentum derives from Newton’s first law of motion: “… an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force.”  Are you the force that moves the object?  When you start taking steps to achieve your goals or making your life better, then you are acting on the object of interest (i.e., your life, project, weight loss, etc.).

Anyone can hammer a nail.  The faster the hammer is moving when it hits the nail, the further the nail will be driven into the wood.  Even small slow blows with a hammer will drive the largest of nails providing the hammer is big enough.  Every small blow from the hammer to the nail drives the nail just a little further into the wood.  I have seen kids drive big nails into wood by just hammering the nail with a lot of little blows.   The kids will just lift the hammer and let it fall onto the head of the nail.  Sometimes the nail only moves a fraction of a millimeter for each blow of the hammer, but, with enough hits of the hammer, the nail is driven.

When I was a kid, we were visiting my grandmother’s farm where my dad was raised.  I was with my dad on the farm while he was repairing a chicken coop.  He was nailing new siding to the exterior walls.  I was so impressed when he showed me he could drive a nail all the way through the siding and the wood with one blow.  Now my dad had grown up on that farm and had done many repair projects through the years, so he was very coordinated with that hammer as he had driven thousands of nails on that farm.  Over the years, my dad had gained the skill needed to drive nails with a single hit.

Many of will never be able to drive nails with one blow; however, as we do more and more of what we set out to do, we will become more efficient at what we do.  Therefore, hammering the same nail the next time will go more quickly.  I have done many home improvement projects, and I still cannot hammer a nail with one blow, but I can hammer nails with pretty good efficiency.

If you were to dedicate 15 minutes a day for six days every week, that would be working on a project for an hour and half each week.  Added up over 50 weeks (two weeks off for vacation), you would have spent 75 hours working toward your goal – almost two full time work weeks.

It is the same with our projects and life goals.  Like driving the nail with little taps, our goals and projects can be achieved slowly if needed with a little effort each day.