With the COVID-19 coronavirus officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, people around the world are panicking.
While it’s incredibly unlikely at this point for you, the reader, to even know somebody who caught the virus, that hasn’t stopped a sequence of devastating events from taking place.
Not only is the virus likely to trigger a global recession, but ongoing US-Iran tensions and stagnant oil demand are contributing to economic malaise.
Traditional investments like the S&P500 to alternative investments like crypto are all seeing sell-offs, but whether you’re an investor or not, it’s important to stay calm.
However, platitudes like “Stay Calm” won’t work here—not when there are serious concerns all around us.
Instead, we need to remember to maintain perspective.
With the right perspective, we can easily stay calm, which is incredibly important for our mental and physical health. After all, stress is literally deadly, weakening our immune systems and making us more susceptible to illness.
That being said, here are 3 things to keep in mind to maintain perspective.
1. Humans Are Resilient
Imagine if there was a truly terrible illness, one that put half the world’s population at risk, sickening hundreds of millions of people every year and killing hundreds of thousands of children.
You might think that the world would grind to a halt, creating immense global catastrophe.
Unfortunately, you don’t have to imagine, because that illness exists, and it’s called malaria.
In spite of its horrors, we’re making progress, and we’ve survived even worse illnesses, like the Black Death, which killed nearly one-third of Europe’s population.
In short, humans are extraordinarily resilient, and the coronavirus won’t wipe us out.
2. Remember What Truly Matters
The coronavirus is reminding many people of their inevitable mortality.
Faced with this reality, it’s important to keep in mind what really matters: Love, family, truth.
As Steve Jobs said:
“Death Is Very Likely The Best Single Invention Of Life. It Is Life’s Change Agent.”
Rather than let the virus invoke fear in you, let in inspire compassion and the drive to make the most out of the time you have.
3. We Know What Precautions to Take
On a practical note, the CDC has outlined simple steps to prevent the illness, including the following:
- Clean your hands often
- Stay home if you’re sick
- Avoid close contact
- Cover coughs and sneezes
- Clean and disinfect
We’re not in the dark when it comes to preventing the illness. We know what to do, any many people are working on a vaccine! Further, two companies are making progress on treatments.
By maintaining perspective, and understanding our resilience, what really matters in life, and the fact that we’re figuring things out, you can stay calm even in the face of a pandemic.