Head vs. Heart in Entrepreneurial Life During the Pandemic

My new normal is viewing my Twitter feed daily around 11 a.m. This time of the day is the most important one for me. It’s inked in my calendar, phone, heart, and mind. I work around this time frame to make sure, I receive the most logical, straightforward information on the current pandemic. The delivery of content by Governor Andrew Cuomo is exactly what I need as a mother with two sons still working and living in New York City. My very logical planning brain has always needed non-emotional facts to make wise decisions in my personal and business life.

As Onondaga County, where I live and work, goes into an even tighter lockdown today with people born in even years going out to run essentials errands on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and people born during odd years running their tasks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Life has become even more organized in hopes of ending this national situation. With my first business Five Star Events, when I was hired as an event planner, part of my sales pitch based on truth, was the fact my clients were going to get the most organized partner and timelines to help both of us navigate details, accomplish work, and help us manage their event successfully.

I was always honest telling them if they needed the type of wedding planner who could walk in a bare room and say, “We need to drape the walls with purple taffeta accompanied by white swans and crystal chandeliers,” I wasn’t the person to hire. Having my own sense of good taste didn’t translate into expertise in decorations for clients; but if they needed someone to guide them methodically through the multitude of details taking out the stress, I was their best bet. The ones that hired me totally agreed as they handed me their final check as the dance floor still bounced with live music and a happily wedded couple.

What I know for a fact after 25 years in business is decisions are best made with emotions set aside. It doesn’t mean we can’t be intuitive about decisions, but by relying more on our own truth and facts, we weather storms. So, settle down, be quiet, let your intellect speak, listen for the black and white facts, and dwell in this place instead of uncertainty and worry. Trust yourself, your brain, your gut feeling, your own sense of what is right, and then stick to that when stress and emotions swell.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you that sometimes we need to be more logical, than emotional, during times of strife. Digging deep into what we know to be true, gathering facts, seeking wisdom from people we trust, and operating from our own intellect, might be exactly what we need now more than ever before to manage our days.