Overcoming Worry - Creating a Money Mindset during a pandemic.

“Take the first step, the rest of the staircase will reveal itself.”

Why the “choose life first” principle has helped me overcome any worries about money during this time of business disruption.

My thinking at the start of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown was panic. I had an incoming Corporation Tax Bill, a VAT bill and then also my mortgage to contend with. Overnight I became worried and focussed on about how to survive with no work coming in and bills going out. I knew I had to get over the initial panic and had to think logically about everything.

Careful thinking and being present helped me to move my thoughts to safety. I called the bank and got a mortgage break - before they were offering them.
A call with HMRC and they moved everything to later dates.
I chatted with a well known accountancy firm about worst case scenarios.
As I watched the last of my events disappear I took heart in the fact I had 3 months with no outgoings.

All of this on a grey, cold and rainy Scottish day. It would be over 60 days before I saw rain again! 60 odd days of sunshine in a row! The outlook at the time was bleak, however the mood, like the weather improved quickly.

Our companies initial small victories were quickly swallowed up by outgoings and refunds.
Weeks of government announcements followed but, with nothing concrete to actually help the situation.
What about Furlough? I was never going to stop working on protecting my dreams. Up to this point there was no other help - I didn't want a noose around my neck with a loan.

My personal outgoings are basically in three areas: travelling, football and going out with friends. With these things on hold, seemingly indefinitely, I accepted my mindset would shift - money no longer existed. Life did.

By focussing on being present I could concentrate on moving to a state of happy.
I knew I needed to work day to day.

My vision for the business never faltered. My goals just adapted.
I kept the figures of what I aimed to make this year exactly the same.
On my personal vision board I had to make sure I looked at other avenues to be happy. Where wealth,
travel and seeing family were no longer something I could look to grow, I moved to focussing on
creativity, health and knowledge. The knock on effect has been the 'fame' part , as our social media stats went up and I started to be interviewed about the articles I was publishing. These were in turn being widely shared in reputable industry circles and lifting our visibility.

In terms of the business, I looked at the 90 day action plan and knew sales were being impacted, so I switched my focus to Operations and Marketing.
What did we need? I made sure my effort went there and got ready for when sales do come back.
This allowed us to grow.

The careful pre planning and not panicking allowed the runway to be extended. I worked out how many months I could operate for before having to reassess and restructure .

I also spent time working on my fitness through cycling. Started writing a Book about my systems. I reached out to people who were all in the same situation and asked how they were? Opportunities started to come knocking.

I set up a reward system where I could have something to look forward to each day. I could only buy myself one thing a month. I wanted to be cooking everyday to sample tastes from around the world.
I limited myself to one takeaway per month (I was actually going to keep this to zero) and also set up creative projects. An #abandonedglasgow photography project seeing my city empty, going for
a cycle at end of a day's work and keeping a routine where I saw friends. I also bought Pro Evolution
Soccer to get my football fix...!

All this while having absolutely no income. My mindset switch meant I had no fear. I got an amazing understanding of the things in life that mean so much to me.

Pull together your own vision for life. Use all 9 areas and when you cannot control your happiness in one part, move to another. Watch your mood change very quickly to one of happiness.

Above there is a Vision Board with areas you should focus on.

If you require help with this, get in touch.

Good luck.