Introduction
A lot of times we talk about having to troubleshoot a failed launch, a course that flops, or the tech issues that seem to follow us around like a pesky sibling who swears they aren’t touching us.
But what about the times when things are quite literally out of our control? What do we do then to set ourselves apart as course creators committed to our audience and our own well-being?
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, this has been on my mind a lot and today we are going to talk about the mindset that we need during the times when we don’t have control over what happens.
I will say that this episode might be hard to listen to, I’m going to try my best to keep it focused on mindset, but I will talk about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and how our family handled the situation to not only serve clients, but also to maintain our well-being.
I know that this is a difficult topic and might not be for you. If you are looking for mindset episodes that do not reference hurricanes, check out episodes 192, 166 with Guest Kelli Risse, and 152.
If you are ready to listen to this episode, let’s go ahead and get started.
Hurricane Helene
Every Tuesday morning at 4am Eastern Time, I release a new podcast episode. I have been doing this since February 2, 2021. Without fail, every single Tuesday a new episode has been released. I have recorded when I haven’t felt the best, after the passing of my grandmother, and during times when I was so energized that I recorded 4 or 5 episodes in a day.
On Wednesday, September 25 at 5pm I sat down to a podcast interview with my friend and colleague, Tracy Beavers. I was excited to have her back on the podcast and for her to share her insights. I was excited for you, my listeners because she is just a wealth of knowledge, but I was also excited personally because Tracy and I have a lovely time whenever we get together. We talk about the goofiness in our lives and the hard stuff that we are going through.
You can imagine that I was thrilled to release this interview on October 1. I immediately started getting the audio pulled together and uploaded to Descript and I walked away. I usually get my episodes ready on Saturday or Sunday so that they are ready for that Tuesday release. I planned to create graphics that Tracy could share and I could share.
Then on Friday morning, Hurricane Helene rolled through our area. We lost power at 5:15am and listened to trees falling. The furthest thing from my mind was getting that episode ready. At that point, the only thing we could control was trying to stay safe and calm, after all we have a kiddo and two animals living in our home.
We were lucky that the damage was minimal to our property and our neighbors. We all came together and shared resources. But the last thing on anyone’s mind was work and business.
We had no power, no internet, and we watched as our friends and family had their lives turned upside down in Western North Carolina. At that moment nothing else mattered. Not the getting that podcast up, not creating graphics that Tracy and I could share. Not trying o rig some magical way to host my client calls.
In that moment what we could control was working with our neighbors, coming together as a community, and just being patient.
Now, I promised you an episode on what to do when things are quite literally out of your control. How do you safeguard your business and your well-being?
What happened during and after Hurricane Helene is an example of what you do when things are out of your control.
Safeguarding Your Business
You take time. You reschedule client work. You do the bare minimum…I still got that podcast episode up, but I haven’t shared it with my email subscribers, my social media following, and I haven’t created any graphics yet. We have power, but still no internet after 9 days and we are lucky.
The reason that my clients were willing to reschedule is because first I have amazing clients, but second, I spend a lot of time getting to know my clients, and genuinely caring about them. As a course creator, take the time to get to know your students. Know what they are worried about, learn how you can best support them. When you do this, you are creating genuine relationships instead of transactions. It is these relationships that carry you through the times when you don’t have any control over what is happening.
On a whole, people are understanding. We hear a lot of horror stories and we worry about what people will think when we need to reschedule because of something out of our control. You can do everything right and still come down with a nasty case of the flu. Sometimes you just have to ask for forgiveness and reschedule something.
I have a client who reaches out when they need a meeting. I typically make space in my schedule so that we can sit down and talk ASAP. This time, I have to let them know that I don’t have internet and my hotspot isn’t that great. I hate doing this, but honestly, I don’t have a lot of choices right now. We still have a lot of people in our area without power, let alone internet. I would much rather the lineman focus on getting power to homes than getting power to the internet nodes that drive our home and business internet connections.
If you are thinking about how to safeguard your business when things are out of your control, the best way to do this is to be proactive and build relationships. When we have strong relationships we have more flexibility, we have more support, and we have that peace of mind that it will be ok, even if it isn’t right now.
Safeguarding Your Well-being
But just safeguarding our business isn’t enough. We have to safeguard our well-being. When things happen, like a natural disaster the ramifications extend far beyond the loss of a fence, power outages that last weeks, and a tree crashing through a roof.
When things are outside of our control, it is exhausting both physically and mentally. So how do you protect yourself and maintain your well-being during these times?
I don’t have all of the answers, but I can tell you some things that we have done that have helped.
Get the news, get the updates, and then find a way to help. Talk with a neighbor that you don’t usually get to stop and talk to. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We were prepared before the storm, we had done our laundry, charged every device and the portable batteries that charge our devices when we don’t have a power source available, and we had plenty of batteries. We tend to be independent in our family, however, there were a few neighbors with generators and we asked for help. We were trying to clean up storm debris and needed to charge the chainsaw battery, which didn’t make our pre-storm prep, and the pool vacuum battery. So we asked for help. We shared resources with our neighbors.
My point here is to be of service as well as ask for help. That connection that you experience will release neurotransmitters that help you feel better. When we help others we get a dopamine hit, just like when we scroll through social media. When we ask for help, even if it is hard, we are offering that same dopamine hit to the person we are asking for help. They get to do something good.
Another thing that we did during the power outage and storm was to relax some of the rules that we have. From making sure to have a balanced meal and snacks to having a regular bedtime. You might think that this creates more havoc, but in reality, for us, it created flexibility without any feelings of anxiety or worry. We just went with the flow. We played games, got outside after the storm passed, and were more forgiving of ourselves.
Finally, recognize when you’ve hit the wall so to speak and rest. We don’t have internet, but that doesn’t mean that my husband doesn’t have to work. He is a full-time remote worker and has been for years. His teams are located throughout the country and business was on a normal schedule. That meant that he needed to work. So he used our hotspot to work about 4 hours a day and then stopped. He let people know that he couldn’t do any more for the day. We are lucky that his co-workers are understanding. And a few even told him to leave the meeting and just take care of himself and family.
Sometimes we just have to rest. This is particularly important as course creators because our course is available 24/7 and students’ requests, concerns, and complaints don’t stop just because our family member is sick, a natural disaster strikes, or we are on vacation trying to refill our energy banks.
Without our well-being we cannot serve and build those relationships with our students and clients in a way that is meaningful and impactful.
Action Item
All of this leads me to our action item for today, because if you’ve been around the podcast for any length of time you know that I’m big on action. I want you to do something with what I’ve shared today. And so, just like we always have a plan to make sure things are charged and laundry is done when severe weather is a possibility, what will your plan be for your business and well-being when things happen that are outside of your control?
For instance, you might decide what tasks in your business still need to happen if possible and which ones can be tackled once the crisis passes. With your well-being it might mean making a list of what typically helps you to refill your stores. Is it taking time for meditation, is it getting out there and serving your community, is it keeping a steady bedtime no matter what is happening?
For people who live in hurricane zone, they have a list of things that they take when they evacuate, they have a list of things that they do to prep their home for the storm. I want you to have a similar list for your business and your well-being. That is your action item for this week. And if you are thinking that even the thought of creating this kind of plan makes you a little panicky, let’s talk about one thing that every single person can do.
Sixty-Second Solution
In today’s Sixty-Second Solution I’m going to share with you my top tip for managing that anxiety that happens when we think about the unknown. Sometimes the Sixty-Second Solution takes you sixty-second to implement and sometimes it is more along the lines of taking me 60 seconds to explain.
I think both apply to this solution if I stay focused! When the worry starts to pop when you are planning for the events that happen that are completely outside your control, this one thing can change your body’s reaction and help your thinking brain get back into the driver’s seat.
Take a deep breath and release it slowly. If you want to get fancy, you can do what’s called box breathing where you breathe in for 3 seconds, hold for three seconds, release for 3 seconds, and then hold for 3 seconds before beginning your next box of breathing.
This process allows you to reset, creates a deep focus on your breath and steadies your heart rate.
Where to Go Next?
I hope that this episode and today’s Sixty-Second Solution has been helpful to you, especially if you struggle with guilt over not getting things done when something happens that is outside of your control. I know it can be difficult to release things that feel important when the unthinkable happens.
Now if you find that as we head into the last few months of the year, or really any time, that your passion and purpose is waning a little bit, check out some really early episodes of the podcast where I talked about passion and purpose and interviewed Best-Selling Author Amy McLaren. The episodes are quite different from the newer episodes because the show has evolved, but I think you’ll find some great nuggets of information in Episodes 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31.
That’s it for this week’s episode. I’d love to hear your list of non-negotiables and things that can be put on the back burner during times where you don’t have control over the situation. Send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook at Digital Course Creator Guide.
Until next time, happy creating!
