3 Tips From A Prepper
My Twitter profile says that I am a doomsday prepper ready for all zombies. That’s a bold statement, and while I might be ready for The Walking Dead to become a reality, COVID is a whole different ball of wax.
I’ve been living a prepared lifestyle for the last 15 years, so whether it was a solar flare, civil unrest, or an alien invasion, I had game planned most of these unlikely scenarios and spent endless hours thinking about how they might play out. No matter the hypothetical disaster (and I had thought about most of them), contemplating a global pandemic wasn’t as much fun as planning for the zombie apocalypse so admittedly, I hadn’t spent much time thinking about ways to prepare—until now.
With this real-time test set upon all of us, here are the three things I am doing to get myself prepared:
1 – Focus on the things that are in my control.
Like a rocket blasting off for outer space, the COVID story got overwhelming at a ridiculously rapid rate. The news was immediately filled with worrisome facts such as the death rate, confirmed cases around the globe, and record-setting unemployment figures. I can’t do anything about any of these situations, other than working personally on staying healthy and employed.
Instead of watching CNN or Fox News, I am reading about permaculture, finding YouTube videos on how to boost my immune system, and studying our household budget to cut unnecessary expenses.
All of these topics are helpful in both the short- and long-term, so even though I wish I would have planted a raised garden bed last season, I will use this time to learn how to start it before the next.
2 – Work overtime to create value.
As you already know, I am largely in the live events business and those jobs went from full throttle at Daytona to a hard stop in the parking lot of Atlanta Motor Speedway when we got the call that the race had been postponed. Since I am now faced with unplanned bandwidth, I am focusing on areas of our business where I can add value.
Marketing has always been a passion of mine, so I am working closely with my teammates to create relevant social content and tell stories that can be shared through our various distribution channels. We are developing reoccurring stories, gathering film content from each of our deployments, and developing infographics that tell a story. I love all of these things—so finding an area of the company where I can add value and do so with passion right now is a win-win.
3 – Support your community.
Since the weekends are no longer filled with flights that take me across the country and the evenings are free, Kelly and I now have more time together compared with any point throughout our last 15 years of marriage.
In addition to device-free family dinners, we have been making a conscious effort to connect with friends that we might have neglected over the years.
It was during these check-ins that I realized that I could use my last 10+ years of LinkedIn love to support my friends. I have been working closely with Glenn Boothe to create a LinkedIn accountability group that will help empower our members to generate weekly content and gain necessary skills to get comfortable creating on any platform.
By focusing on these three key areas, I believe that I am retroactively preparing for this pandemic and building a stronger skill set that will allow me to face whatever the next disaster is (no matter if it is manmade or otherwise) and what it may have in store for me.
I appreciate each person who is reading this article. I hope you and your families are staying healthy and using this opportunity to work on the things that matter and can make a difference.
Looking forward to seeing you and giving you a big hug soon.
Cheers,
Michael
