A version of this essay was originally published by Forbes.com on April 13th, 2020.

Leading amid a global crisis requires a very specific skill set. First, one has to find a way to stay centered and clear, mentally healthy and strong. Then comes the hardest part: one has to be 100% focused on the most important thing — whatever that may be for you, in your business. Here are five principles to help leaders do just that.

Principle 1: Differentiate between what you can and cannot control.

During a global crisis, the biggest factors are usually outside of your control. Rather than fixate on the newest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the latest dips in the stock market, try focusing on what you can control. What’s your cash position? Operating expense ratio? Days sales outstanding? Quick ratio? How many client interactions has your team had this week? Have you modeled or re-forecasted to prepare for the unknown?

Do a SWOT analysis for your company. Then, cross off everything that’s outside of your control. This should illuminate where to focus your energy.

Principle 2: Protect your mind.

“Where your awareness goes, your energy flows” is a concept I learned from the Hindu priest Dandapani. He explained that every day we have a finite amount of time and energy. Every moment you spend staring at your iPhone and surfing the web, fixated on your favorite news sites, and refreshing your Instagram feed, is time you’re not spending working on your most important thing — time you’re not spending protecting your company. It’s not healthy.

“Where your awareness goes, your energy flows” — Dandapani

Here are two tips for how to safeguard your mind:

• Use your smartphone to set limits for your internet, news, entertainment and social media use. Block specific websites you may have a hard time avoiding. And if you want to get really crazy, you can turn your screen to Grayscale, so it’s less exciting to look at. Remember, these devices are designed to distract you.

• Don’t start or end your day reading the news. Research proves it can be bad for mental health, productivity and it can inhibit happiness — especially during a global crisis.

Many successful people throughout history and today people begin their days with intentional morning routines. Exercising, reading, journaling, praying or meditating, doing yoga, hydrating and eating a healthy meal are the core components on almost every list. Need help getting started? Check out Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning for a framework.

That said, most concerned human beings want to know what’s going on in the world. I get it. Try giving yourself 30 minutes in the middle of the day to catch up on news, and limit yourself to only two or three sources so you’re not endlessly surfing the internet.

Principle 3: Know the difference between facts and analysis.

“Today I escaped from the crush of circumstances, or better put, I threw them out, for the crush wasn’t from outside of me but in my own assumptions.” — Marcus Aurelius

Believe it or not, news headlines cannot ruin your day. Similarly, your email inbox cannot overwhelm you. These are external things that don’t actually have access to your thoughts. They cannot control your mind, nor can they control what you think or how you act. Those emotions you feel, as real as they are, come from within you — not from anywhere else.

“Believe it or not, news headlines cannot ruin your day… These are external things that don’t actually have access to your thoughts. They cannot control your mind, nor can they control what you think or how you act.”

Author Byron Katie explains that pain and suffering abound when we believe our stressful thoughts. Before believing the story you tell yourself, ask whether it’s true. Is it observable? Is it absolutely, without a doubt, true?

The human mind manufactures endless stories, analyses and conclusions all day long. If you choose to believe all of it, that’s on you. You can’t blame external factors for the way you feel and the thoughts you think.

The next time your mind spins out or your emotions crash over you, ask what is true. Seek out the facts. Set your internal theories and analyses aside for a moment, and be objective, like a scientist in a lab. What’s true? What is undeniably factual?

Similarly, be on guard for the stories and analyses of others too. Since the beginning of the current global crisis, my phone has constantly blown up with links, posts, videos, and wild stories from friends and social media. There’s an unusually high number of fear-mongers today, many of whom manufacture every type and variety of worst-case scenario available. Fear sells. It hijacks our emotions, steals our attention and wastes our time. Be on the lookout for facts commingled with stories.

We choose our perceptions, our stories, our commentary and our analysis. We create them or borrow them from others. We choose how we see something and how we react to something. We choose what we believe. When we become aware of our choice in these things, we gain freedom and power.

Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication framework does a wonderful job of presenting the difference between observable facts and analysis/evaluation.

Principle 4: Find peer mentors and confer with them often.

The global crisis has been plenty isolating. Make time to connect with your peer mentors often. Use Zoom, Google Hangouts, FaceTime or whatever works best for you. It’s critical to “meet” more frequently during these times. Pay no mind to your camera quality — what matters is actually seeing each other’s faces, speaking candidly, sharing experiences and encouraging one another.

Business groups like the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (of which I’m a member) and the Young Presidents’ Organization foster peer mentorship. These organizations have something called forums — small groups for sharing experiences, accountability and support. I have a forum composed of seven of the most brilliant business minds in my world. Since the onset of the current global crisis, we “meet” weekly, knowing that in these challenging times, we must draw closer and lean into one another more often.

And give that classic “Man in the Arena” speech by Teddy Roosevelt another read. During a time of crisis leaders really have to tune-out the haters and nay sayers. It’s a time to truly lean into your peers, other leaders, especially those with similar skin in the game, peers who are actually in the arena of leadership and have experience leading in challenging times, making tough calls that impact dozens of people.

Thank you, Brené Brown for bringing this back to the mainstream. This talk is brilliant.

Principle 5: Default to action.

Under normal circumstances, it’s perfectly fine, and often better, to take more time in making big decisions. During a global crisis however, acting slowly can mean bleeding cash and, ultimately, death for a business. As you read this, businesses in retail, hospitality, travel and other industries are going from healthy financials to the dead zone in a matter of days. For leaders, taking too long to reduce expenses can mean bankruptcy. In a crisis like this one, it’s critical to know your vital signs and act swiftly. And remember — a reduction in a critical expense line can be a temporary thing — something to help your company weather a storm.

The principle of defaulting to action applies beyond just managing a company’s vital signs. During a crisis, it’s critical to move a little faster and be a little more action-oriented in everything you do. Do you have some critical moves you’ve been meaning to make in your business? Maybe you have a big personnel move you’ve been planning for? Is there an innovation or a new capability that needs an extra push to get it launched? Default to action. Get out of your head, stop waiting, and just do it. You can always iterate, change course or optimize as you go. But those who get caught in a crisis like a deer in headlights run the risk of getting passed by competitors who see crisis as an opportunity. As Amelia Earhart famously said, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.“

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.“ — Amelia Earhart

A crisis can be a defining moment for leaders. In these times, it’s critical to not spend too much time in your own head. Practice these principles to stay centered, focus only on what you can control, separate facts from analysis and default to action whenever possible.

A version of this essay was originally published by Forbes.com on April 13th, 2020.

*This is yet another essay in-part inspired by my friends Mario and Chris — please check out their work too. We believe the process of public writing helps us learn, grow and improves our lives too. We call ourselves the Western Writers League and someday we might make hats with a fun logo.

Recently, a friend of mine, Brianne Mees — brilliant leader and co-founder of Tender Loving Empire — shared something with me that’s been on my mind ever since. She explained that, in her opinion, the popular saying, “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is bullshit. It’s a fantasy and a lie that’s misled and confused an entire generation of young people — many of whom are entering the workforce right now. Brianne explained that to truly find, pursue and live one’s passion, there will always be a counterweight of pain and suffering. It’s unavoidable. If you’re able to find your passion, and if you’re able to actually do your passion as your main gig or career, or even as a side hustle, you’d sure as heck better expect there will be some suffering, storms, a LOT of hard work, and some seasons of deep, dark adversity, too.

This counterweight concept Brianne shared has no doubt been true in my own life. And I’ve yet to read a single biography or hear from someone I know who’s successful and “loves what they do” that doesn’t have the ever-present counterweight of suffering as a constant factor in their story. There’s no way around it.

Thinking on more of a meta-level, I wonder if any measure of greatness or success is achievable without the counterweight? I ask this because I’m surprised by how often I encounter people who seem to expect to achieve success or greatness without the counterweight. It’s as if they truly believe that silly saying.

I see it most frequently in 20-somethings navigating the beginnings of their career, who after a year or two in an entry-level role, complain that their work is mundane or unsatisfying, and express frustration when a promotion doesn’t happen as quickly as they want. They either get impatient and jump ship after a year or two… or sometimes they just get increasingly louder, voicing their complaints and frustrations more and more until it breeds negativity and some kind of intervention is needed.

While I truly love the drive and the fire in the belly these types of people exhibit, I’m fascinated by the on-demand, instant gratification mindset and pain-free expectations so many seem to live by. It’s as if some can’t fathom the thought of taking two, three, or more years to learn, develop, and deeply master a role before moving on to something else. There’s a desire and expectation to have it all right now, unwilling to slow down to take the time and walk through the fire and experience some adversity — these are prerequisites to grow and rise to any real level of success and achievement. It’s as if some weren’t anticipating any pain or discomfort along the way. They’re unaware of the counterweight. My colleague at Marmoset, Rachel Schmidt, likes to remind me of this quote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Edison

The truth of the matter is, there are no shortcuts. There’s no express route or fast lane to achieving great things, whether in a career or a side hustle. And there’s no way to avoid the pain and suffering that happens along the way either — which sometimes means enduring a role for a while that may feel mundane or isn’t very challenging. It’s all connected and part of the journey. This is the nature of life. The uncomfortable part that may be frustrating or painful is often, in hindsight, a necessary chapter in everyone’s story. It may not make sense while you’re in the middle of it… but upon reflection years later, I almost always find that there was something beneficial that needed to be learned, no matter how painful or how dark the experience may have been. That’s my story. And as a leader, I see too many young people start out on their path, and when the journey gets long… when it gets hard and isn’t fun… when pain and suffering occur… they so quickly get bummed-out, frustrated, discouraged and impatient — and don’t have reasonable expectations about what it takes. They haven’t prepared for the counterweight, so they hit the eject button.

Even worse — after you hit the eject button a couple of times, you risk losing the power of resiliency — the most critical power to develop and master in order to achieve what you want to achieve in life.

My friend and peer mentor, Mario Schulzke, recently shared an essay about his passion project. You can read about it here. Most fascinating to me, he reflected upon the ten years he’s been pursuing this particular passion, and he confessed it’s been about 51% fun and about 49% terrible. Whoa.

Mario explained how mundane and hard his passion project has been, and how at times he’s felt completely stuck. Yet he sticks with it and he finds a way to appreciate, and sometimes even love the process. Mario knows the counterweight quite well. A German immigrant raised by a single parent and meager means, he’s been mindful of the counterbalance concept his entire life. In fact, I know Mario is always expecting it — he’s anticipating it and always preparing for it. In Mario’s words, “Giving up is easy. You need time. You need staying power. You need to keep going when things get hard.”

I agree with Mario. And I agree with Brianne, too. “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” …truly is bullshit. Life’s counterweight is real.

How you prepare for it and how you respond to it is what ultimately determines the arc of your story. It defines who you are.

- RW

--> This essay is part of a series published in collaboration with The Western Writers League. Take a few minutes to explore my peers’s work as well.

The Steelhead Bath by Chris Corbin

How To Keep Going On Your Side Project When Things Get Hard by Mario Schulzke