Manage Your Sphere Plus ONE Extra Thing!
I haven’t seen my 82 year old mother in weeks now, even though she lives just 5 blocks away. Ever since California Governor Gavin Newsom advised adults 65+ to stay at home, Mom has followed orders.
We speak every day on the telephone for up to an hour. Last week I ran an errand for her, and recently my brother brought groceries and left them outside of her door. A few days ago I walked to her house and we waved to each other and smiled, separated by the window. Keeping Mom safe during COVID-19 has become a central mission in my family… for the four of her children that remain, she is absolutely our national treasure.
My big sister, a genius quilter and crafter, is busy sewing scores of face masks to donate to local hospitals. Her washable cotton masks fit over the personal protective equipment (PPE) that doctors and nurses are legally required to wear - which they are quickly running out of - and will help those masks last longer. It’s not a perfect situation but she was asked to do this by two of her close friends that are nurses. She is working hard and doing whatever she can to help!
I myself don’t have a sewing machine or fabric… however I too am focused on doing what I can. I’ve opened up a bunch of additional online session time slots to coach as many people as I can who need help or support right now; anyone dealing with anxiety or stress… plus anyone who wants to take this sudden, unexpected downturn in the economy as an opportunity to reinvent themselves and realize their life goals and dreams.
It isn’t as practical as sewing face masks or delivering food to an Emergency Room (looking into how to do that!) but it’s something I can do right away to help. Several of my clients are physicians or nurses and it feels really good to offer emotional and psychological support to people who are marching off to the front lines of this battle with COVID-19 every day. If I can lighten their load even a tiny bit, that’s everything to me. I’m also making short inspirational videos and writing blog posts that can be passed around.
The magnitude of COVID-19 may seem vast and overwhelming; but there is a very simple strategy that we can all follow, no matter who we are, to get the best results possible right now. That strategy is called Manage Your Sphere… plus ONE extra thing.
“What’s my sphere?” you may ask, “And how do I manage it?”
Your sphere of influence is what you can actually see, touch and have an immediate effect upon. For many of us, that might be one room right now… one apartment.
Managing it might be simply washing up your dishes after you’ve made lunch. It could be doing laundry for your kids, because even stuck at home in quarantine, kids manage to get amazingly messy and they still create endless laundry. If you are lucky enough to have a business it may be managing employees from home, and if you are lucky enough to still have a job it may be simply showing up on time and getting your work done!
Many have found themselves suddenly unemployed right now, wondering frantically how they are going to pay bills or take care of their family. I just saw an advertisement from a humane society in Nebraska (I live in California) begging people to adopt new pets because many people who have just been laid off cannot afford to take care of their animals anymore and are relinquishing them to the humane society.
“How can I manage my sphere,” you may ask, “When I’m losing my job or my house or my pet… and when people I love may die? How do I move forward under circumstances like these?”
The answer is to start small. Manage Your Sphere… plus ONE extra thing means starting with what IS in your control… no matter how little it is. Your small steps forward will lead to further steps… which will lead ultimately to big steps.
You may not be able to manage COVID-19 or your financial future at this exact moment, but perhaps you CAN manage to do 10 pushups or 10 sit ups, right where you are. You CAN manage to make your bed, brush your teeth, or put on clean clothing and make yourself something to eat. Start small, and manage what you can.
Once you’ve managed your sphere, see if you can do ONE extra thing.
What kind of an extra thing? Well, how about some of these: Send a kind text to a friend. Check on an elderly relative or neighbor. Draw a picture with chalk (if you have it) on your driveway or sidewalk (if you have those) to brighten somebody’s day. Post a photograph of something beautiful on a social network. Draw a message to yourself on your mirror of something positive - remind yourself that you have everything it takes to get through hard times. Make a list of all of the tough things you’ve gotten through in the past.
Lastly, capture all of the good and great things you are doing (no matter how small they are). Keep track so that you can remind yourself of how capable you really are, even during super tough times. Make a list of everything you manage to accomplish in your day - especially if/when you are feeling very badly! There is no shame in writing down, “I got dressed today, made myself lunch and began to update my resume.” And if you can add ONE extra… such as, “At 5pm I called my grandfather to check in,” then you have truly won the day.
To recap, here are the 3 steps to follow with this strategy:
Manage your sphere - all that IS in your control, even if it’s not much.
Do ONE extra thing, for yourself or someone else!
Write it all down. Keep track of your successes.
Day by day, you are going to walk your way out of this COVID-19 crisis… and when you get to the other side, you are going to look back and realize that every single step forward and every “ONE extra” you did was not just necessary… it was also beautiful.
Manage Your Sphere… plus ONE extra thing is how you will become the strong, successful future self that you are destined to be.
Good luck and please keep me posted. After publishing this blog I myself am going to go scrub a bathroom and make sure my 3 kids have finished their homework!
What does it look like to manage your sphere? What is your ONE extra thing today? Please post below, I’d genuinely love to know.