A 7 Minute Read, By Anthony (Tony) J. D’Angelo, founder of Collegiate Empowerment Posted April 23, 2020
COVID, COVID, COVID. By now, you’re likely tired of hearing the word, “COVID”. But what does it stand for? What do the letters C-O-V-I-D mean? Going back to my public health roots, typically we create an acronym to name a virus which causes a disease. For example during my early days of public health the focus was all around AIDS and HIV. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the case of COVID it stands for COrona VIrus Disease, the disease caused by the Corona Virus. Okay now that our little public health lesson is over let’s get to the essence of this piece.
The essence of this article is to take this thing called COVID and transform what it means to us here at Collegiate Empowerment. It’s about taking the word COVID and reframing it. We’re gonna take COVID, the biggest clusterfuck in modern history, and we’re gonna transform it into an empowering framework to transform our lives in the 21st century. So, what does it mean for us? Today, COVID stands for these five things: C stands for Capabilities, O stands for Obstacles, V stands for Vision, I stands for Insights, and D stands for Decision. We're redefining and owning this virus. How do we live a COVID 2020 mindset? Let’s break it down.
C: CAPABILITIES
Right now, economically and financially, the world is at a standstill. There is a crushing economic impact and right now everybody wants cash. Yet while everyone wants & needs cash the problem is there is very little flowing. We have a liquidity crisis, where people don't have cash because the cashflow pipe has been shut off. Here’s the thing: during times like these, forget about cash and focus on capabilities. Take this time to develop and grow your capabilities.
What new capabilities can you develop during this quarantine? How can you come out of this being more useful to other people? Through this crisis, we’ve seen the phrase “essential workers” rise up. And it doesn’t refer to the professor with four PhDs, (unless you're working on the vaccine!). It refers to those who work at the grocery stores, delivering packages, and keeping the plumbing lines open. There's going to be a fundamental reset and on how we look at education as a society. So to be truly prepared for the return to “normal” get serious about answering this question: What are the new capabilities that are essential for the people around you & humanity? How can I be really useful to other people?
O: OBSTACLES
During normal times, you experience obstacles. When you’re going through a tough time, a scary time, you can expect those obstacles to increase. Remember, all the obstacles you face are the raw material for your future success. The most powerful way to grow is to go through something like you're going through right now. As individuals, through families, as a country, and globally, we are learning about grit and resilience. Naming your obstacles is the first step to learning from them and being transformed by them.
What are the three biggest obstacles that you're currently facing? What are your doubts, worries, fears, and concerns? Don’t let these obstacles weigh on your heart and in your head. Get them down on paper. Don’t just think it; ink it!
V: VISION
The idea behind your vision is to always make your future bigger than your past. More than that, always make your future bigger than your present. Here is the linchpin. This is at the center point of the COVID model. Everything great starts with a vision. Think about your life simply in three constructs: the next four years, the next 90 days, and the next 24 hours.
For starters, forget about your 1 year goals, rather think about the year 2024. You see we as humans usually overestimate what we can accomplish in a year, but we radically underestimate how much our life can transform in four years. So imagine it's 2024 and you're looking back to today (April 2020). What needs to happen in your life over the next four years for you to feel happy and successful about your progress? Give yourself permission to dream.
Then, focus on “right now”, this current 24-hour period, because how you use this time is the one area of your life you can control. What are five things that you can do today? Only choose five things, because you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. Take that walk, teach that child, write that page, make that meal, make that call. Focus on the immediate needs, capabilities, and obstacles that you’re facing each day and take this all day by day.
I: INSIGHT
The principle behind insight is to take what works and leave the rest behind. This is akin to “Progress, not perfection”. If you only focus on perfection, none of this is going to work. Aiming for “perfection” is an exercise in exhaustion. Perfection is a prison; progress is a space for growth and grace. Maybe you still haven’t quite figured out Zoom. You’re still refining how to teach online and give students what they want and need in a new format. Yet, we always make our learning bigger than our experience.
Ask yourself this question as you go through this: What is working in your life, personally and professionally?What has been working well since the shutdown happened? Keep that. What isn’t working? Leave that behind.
Each day, look back over your past 24 hours and ask, “What worked for me today?” and, “What did not work for me today?” Take what works and leave what did not work behind. Take the time to honor and process your daily insights.
D: DECISION
The word “Decision” comes from the Latin, decidere, de- “off” + caedere “to cut”. Making a decision means to cut off certain things from your life in order to have something else. What decisions do you need to make in your life?
In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl writes about a decision he had to make when both he and his wife were taken to the Nazi camps. They came in on the same train and then were split into separate lines. Viktor Frankl went into the work line and his wife, who was very frail and sick, was sent to the gas chamber. That moment, Viktor Frankel needed to make a decision so he could stay alive. He said, “I need to let go of my past.” He took off his wedding ring, and he threw it away, so that none of the German guards would know that he had somebody in the gas chamber. He believed the best way he could honor his wife was to survive the Nazi death camp that her from this earth.
Go back to your four year Vision and think about your life right now. In order to make the Vision a reality, what decisions do you need to make in your life today. Based on your future Vision what do you need to...
1) What Do You Need To Continue Doing? (What are you doing right?)
2) What Do You Need To Start Doing? (Maybe get off your butt and go for a walk outside!)
3) What Do You Need To Stop Doing? (Negative self talk, crappy relationships, toxic habits)
THE GREAT RESET
I call this period of human history, The Great Reset of 2020. This Sabbath, this reset, this pause is a beautifully divine coincidence for so many of us. It is reset, but also let it be a wakeup call. That is what happens when we go through a crisis. Is this going to be a breakthrough or a breakdown? That’s up to you. What about you? What about your life? How are you going to take COVID—your Capabilities, your Obstacles, your Vision, your Insights, and your Decisions—here in 2020 not only to reset now, but to reset your mindset for the rest of The 21st Century!
Crises don't define us. They reveal us. What will COVID reveal about you?
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Anthony (Tony) J. D’Angelo, is founder & Chief Visionary Officer of Collegiate Empowerment, a educational production company dedicated to serving the US Higher Education Industry. Since 1995, Tony has served as a coach and strategic consultant to thousands of Higher Education Professionals and University Executives from over 2,500 US colleges. Learn more @ www.Collegiate-Empowerment.org or Follow: @TonyDAngelo on Twitter.
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