If you went to a grocery store a couple of weeks ago when all of this started, like me, you probably saw a lot of empty shelves.
 
A mastermind client told me the story of being in a grocery store line and laughing to herself because in spite of the emptiness, she had gotten everything she needed. Her laughter caught the attention of another woman and when she told her what she’d realized, the woman, who had a cart full of stuff, admitted that wasn’t sure she needed all of it, but that she just kept filling because everyone else was.  
 
I spoke to another client on Monday about the news and how she was receiving it. She said something to the effect of, “I check in and see how I should adjust what I’m doing based on what they say.”
 
I reminded my client that if you laid out the events and actions that got her to where she is in business now, people would have told her it was impossible. That it could not be done and if she’d listened to them, she wouldn’t be where she is right now. So why on earth would she trust that third party advice to chart her course now, especially when she was much better at navigating uncertainty?
 
We’re hearing a lot about what everyone else is doing during this unusual time in many of our experiences. That can provide solace because if everyone else is doing it, it must be right, right?
 
In FB groups and in discussions, I’m seeing some business owners knock their businesses down to the studs. They’re closing up shop, laying off staff, stopping their marketing, and essentially throwing in the towel based on the predictions of news sources, other people’s advice and government “leaders” who change their position on a minute-by-minute basis. Then they wonder why they feel panicked.
 
“Realistic” is rearing its ugly head all over the place but guess what this situation is anything but realistic and now is most definitely not the time to rely on someone else’s take on their experience—the definition of being realistic—of this experience. What they have decided emotionally, intellectually, and usually not spiritually, has nothing to do with you. That is unless you accept their reality as your own.
 
Some people are throwing around the facts to bolster their fear tactics. Fact, it was once believed that the world was flat, that cancer was incurable and that the brain had no plasticity, among other things. The “facts” of what we’re experiencing is based on data—some of which is inaccurate—that are changing every day.
 
Some people are SO sure what we should or should not be doing during this time of uncertainty, they’re throwing people out of alignment who would do better by listening to the deep inner wisdom that is asking them to live in the uncertainty of questions asking their soul to grow. 
 
Instead of absorbing O.P.P. (other people’s, panic, perceptions and predictions), breathe and ask yourself where am I in this moment, now? What is the truth of my experience right now? Am I bankrupt right now? Is fear in the driver seat and about to steer my business off the road? Am I am trusting the guidance of my source?
 
Because like pricing, or doing business, or anything where you are involved, your most powerful response is completely individual.