DO YOU RESPOND OR REACT?

Over the past few weeks, news of the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus disease, has dominated media channels. It’s in your news feed, it’s in your inbox, and everyone around you is likely talking about it.

But even more newsworthy than the virus itself is what has happened in reaction to it. The stock market has fallen, entire countries are on lockdown, popular events have been cancelled, and millions of children are not in school. In the US, panic over rising case counts have triggered a rush on stores, so that even toilet paper shelves are empty. The going rate for a bottle of hand sanitizer is 10X its retail price.

Many of these behaviors are driven by one emotion: FEAR. Fear is a natural emotion that signals a potential threat to your physical or emotional safety. But fear, unchecked by facts, leads to negative behaviors like discrimination and poor decision-making.

So how can we avoid making decisions based on fear? Or worse, perpetually living in a fearful state?

As Tony says, there are three decisions we’re all making every moment of our lives, and the first is: What am I going to focus on? What we choose to focus on affects our whole life. Whatever we focus on, we feel – whether it’s true or not.

Are you unconsciously letting the media and the cultural landscape of fear and anxiety draw on your focus? Or are you, like Tony’s mentor Jim Rohn taught Tony to do, choosing to “stand guard at the door of your mind”?

Standing guard doesn’t mean living in a bubble or ignoring the reality in which you live – it simply means making conscious decisions about what you are willing to give your time, energy and effort to.

In these times we need to remember to STAND GUARD. If we don’t discipline our fears and control our focus, the world will gladly do it for us.

…Credit to Team Tony Robbins for this message that really needs to reach as many eyes as possible