It is time to invest in your education and development. There may be a course you have been meaning to take or a conference you have wanted to attend. Do not wait any longer, as you are your most precious asset, and you should invest in yourself fully. You and your growth are all you can truly control after all....
Read More
As I am writing this piece, I am listening to Yanni Live at the Acropolis. I used to listen to this record nonstop when I was in high school, ready to graduate and go off to college into the great unknown. It was a scary time of my life, not unlike now.
I was a seventeen-year-old in Honduras, about to relocate to Ithaca College in upstate New York. I had never seen snow before, and I was so excited yet terrified at the same time. For some reason, Yanni’s music touched my spirit, inspired me, and prepared me for what was coming, which was not easy. I had to learn to live alone and find my way, eventually graduating and working in New York City after college. I ultimately did it, loved it, and grew throughout it.
The coronavirus has caused widespread health and economic problems; no one has been spared from its impact in some way or another. It has created a daily rollercoaster of emotions.
Yet, in the middle of it all, I am ready to start thinking about the future, about hope and beauty. I am taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a forced break to slow down and reassess, and even reinvent my life. Once I am out of this necessary hibernation, I want my life to align with my dreams and ideals more closely, so I am doing a few things to meet those aspirations.
We are living through a situation that nobody predicted. An event of this magnitude, however, does come with certain advantages: it brings to light problems/opportunities that were previously hidden, and it also gives us time and space to pause and invest. So, why not take this opportunity to reinvent your company?
One of the main takeaways of this situation is recognizing the importance of the ability to operate everything in your company digitally. If you have not moved your information systems to the cloud, I would recommend you start working in that direction as soon as possible.
These unprecedented times can be paralyzing. Everything that we have worked hard for and have dreamt about seems to, in many cases, have evaporated. This feeling may not be true, but at least in the short term, nothing is working the way it was in the past, and we need to grieve what we believe to be lost. I say we pause and acknowledge this massive sense of loss we are all feeling, for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our countries.
In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, David Kessler, author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief (public library), describes what we are feeling as collective grief. It is helpful to understand the stages of grief, which, according to Kessler, do not necessarily happen in this order. They are denial, anger, bargaining (trying to negotiate with the situation by saying if we do this, then maybe it will all be better), sadness, and acceptance.
The COVID-19 virus came out of nowhere. Up until March 15th, I was in denial. I did not think it would affect my country or my company, and I assumed that I’d mainly have to deal with the fear that the virus had generated. Then, on March 16th, my country, Honduras, went into lockdown. From one day to the next, we had to walk away from our two ongoing construction projects and move our corporate office to remote work.
As I’m reading Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why (public library), I see myself mirrored in the stories she tells. In her book, she describes the survival arc we go through when we are confronted with disaster, and the first stage is denial. That is precisely where I was before March 15th. I have been wondering why I couldn’t see more of the impact the virus might have in the week or two before, but now I understand.
As I discussed in my previous piece, the ancient Stoics have much to teach us in the middle of this crisis. Acceptance is one of their most important lessons.
As Epictetus put it: “Some things are up to us, and some are not up to us.” There are also things, as Irvine points out, over which we have partial control. Epictetus, who was born a slave and was also disabled, said that it is foolish to spend our time thinking and worrying about things we cannot control, and we should accept them with calm. Nevertheless, we are responsible for our actions.
n the middle of these tumultuous times, I keep referring to the Ancient Stoics and their philosophy. William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (public library) describes the Stoic philosophy’s principles, which were designed to prepare people for times exactly like the ones we are living. Through their practices, we can learn to appreciate what we have, use situations to become stronger and be able to deal with more challenges, and accept our circumstances.
I was thinking yesterday about the plans I made in January for the first six months of this year, and how different they are to the reality we are living today. I never saw this coming; I don’t think any of us did. The year was starting so well, and now, we’re currently in lockdown in my city, scrambling to keep our company operations going. COVID-19 found us in the middle of the construction of one building and two weeks away from finishing another one, and we had to, nevertheless, pause our construction activities today.
I’m having a hard time gathering my thoughts and finding my way through this. It’s shocking, yet we are all in the same boat.
I’m writing on a Monday, and it is one of those Mondays. I feel tired after waking up early to start my day and my week. Not only do I feel fatigued, but I’m also not feeling motivated. Writing isn’t easy today.
It is at times like this that I am encouraged by compound interest. I realize it may sound silly to read that I draw inspiration from something as bland as interest, yet compound interest reminds me of how consistently adding more (money, effort, knowledge), regardless of whatever else is happening, will result in exponential growth.
Writing is a wonderful practice — whether you choose to publish your writing or not, the simple act of putting your thoughts and ideas to paper will help you grow as a person and a professional. We often view writing as means to an end. But writing in itself has many benefits that go beyond getting information across to others.
I started writing four years ago, first in spurts and then eventually consistently. I didn’t realize how beneficial writing is to the author before I began, which was an unexpected gift for me. Now it’s a regular part of my routine and an important part of who I am. Through writing, I get to express my ideas and clarify my thoughts with others and am enriched by their feedback.
The COVID-19 situation has completely altered work patterns. Regardless of how accustomed we were to a way of operating, the pandemic has forced us to change how we work. This period is a time to make sure everything we have built in our companies is carefully maintained and updated. A company is a living organism that needs to keep active. Very easily, we could regress and lose precious ground, but instead, we can maintain our company infrastructure and even improve it as we go.
A company’s organizational structure is the skeleton over which its operations are built. The configuration should be good fit between your company’s capabilities and its external environment. This structure evolves with the company, so what might have worked at one point may no longer be relevant.
As I am writing this piece, I am listening to Yanni Live at the Acropolis. I used to listen to this record nonstop when I was in high school, ready to graduate and go off to college into the great unknown. It was a scary time of my life, not unlike now.
I was a seventeen-year-old in Honduras, about to relocate to Ithaca College in upstate New York. I had never seen snow before, and I was so excited yet terrified at the same time. For some reason, Yanni’s music touched my spirit, inspired me, and prepared me for what was coming, which was not easy. I had to learn to live alone and find my way, eventually graduating and working in New York City after college. I ultimately did it, loved it, and grew throughout it.
The coronavirus has caused widespread health and economic problems; no one has been spared from its impact in some way or another. It has created a daily rollercoaster of emotions.
Yet, in the middle of it all, I am ready to start thinking about the future, about hope and beauty. I am taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a forced break to slow down and reassess, and even reinvent my life. Once I am out of this necessary hibernation, I want my life to align with my dreams and ideals more closely, so I am doing a few things to meet those aspirations.
We are living through a situation that nobody predicted. An event of this magnitude, however, does come with certain advantages: it brings to light problems/opportunities that were previously hidden, and it also gives us time and space to pause and invest. So, why not take this opportunity to reinvent your company?
One of the main takeaways of this situation is recognizing the importance of the ability to operate everything in your company digitally. If you have not moved your information systems to the cloud, I would recommend you start working in that direction as soon as possible.
These unprecedented times can be paralyzing. Everything that we have worked hard for and have dreamt about seems to, in many cases, have evaporated. This feeling may not be true, but at least in the short term, nothing is working the way it was in the past, and we need to grieve what we believe to be lost. I say we pause and acknowledge this massive sense of loss we are all feeling, for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our countries.
In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, David Kessler, author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief (public library), describes what we are feeling as collective grief. It is helpful to understand the stages of grief, which, according to Kessler, do not necessarily happen in this order. They are denial, anger, bargaining (trying to negotiate with the situation by saying if we do this, then maybe it will all be better), sadness, and acceptance.
The COVID-19 virus came out of nowhere. Up until March 15th, I was in denial. I did not think it would affect my country or my company, and I assumed that I’d mainly have to deal with the fear that the virus had generated. Then, on March 16th, my country, Honduras, went into lockdown. From one day to the next, we had to walk away from our two ongoing construction projects and move our corporate office to remote work.
As I’m reading Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why (public library), I see myself mirrored in the stories she tells. In her book, she describes the survival arc we go through when we are confronted with disaster, and the first stage is denial. That is precisely where I was before March 15th. I have been wondering why I couldn’t see more of the impact the virus might have in the week or two before, but now I understand.
As I discussed in my previous piece, the ancient Stoics have much to teach us in the middle of this crisis. Acceptance is one of their most important lessons.
As Epictetus put it: “Some things are up to us, and some are not up to us.” There are also things, as Irvine points out, over which we have partial control. Epictetus, who was born a slave and was also disabled, said that it is foolish to spend our time thinking and worrying about things we cannot control, and we should accept them with calm. Nevertheless, we are responsible for our actions.
n the middle of these tumultuous times, I keep referring to the Ancient Stoics and their philosophy. William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (public library) describes the Stoic philosophy’s principles, which were designed to prepare people for times exactly like the ones we are living. Through their practices, we can learn to appreciate what we have, use situations to become stronger and be able to deal with more challenges, and accept our circumstances.
I was thinking yesterday about the plans I made in January for the first six months of this year, and how different they are to the reality we are living today. I never saw this coming; I don’t think any of us did. The year was starting so well, and now, we’re currently in lockdown in my city, scrambling to keep our company operations going. COVID-19 found us in the middle of the construction of one building and two weeks away from finishing another one, and we had to, nevertheless, pause our construction activities today.
I’m having a hard time gathering my thoughts and finding my way through this. It’s shocking, yet we are all in the same boat.
I’m writing on a Monday, and it is one of those Mondays. I feel tired after waking up early to start my day and my week. Not only do I feel fatigued, but I’m also not feeling motivated. Writing isn’t easy today.
It is at times like this that I am encouraged by compound interest. I realize it may sound silly to read that I draw inspiration from something as bland as interest, yet compound interest reminds me of how consistently adding more (money, effort, knowledge), regardless of whatever else is happening, will result in exponential growth.
Pamela Ayuso is an author and the co-founder and CEO of Celaque. She is a real estate entrepreneur and developer who has executive leadership experience in two of the most successful real estate developers in Honduras — managing operations at Alianza and leading Celaque. Celaque develops office and residential buildings and manages a broad portfolio of properties. Pamela’s focus is on growing Celaque into a model for the 21st-century company.
In addition to her role as CEO at Celaque, Pamela is a writer that offers practical business and personal development insights for other entrepreneurs and business leaders on her blog and LinkedIn. She published her first children’s book in 2019, Alicia and Bunnie Paint a Mural.
Join our mailing list and receive our free Time Management for Busy Business Owners e-book.
Pamela Ayuso will use the information on this form to be in touch with you and provide updates. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at pamela@pamelaayuso.com. We will treat your information with respect. We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us understand how you use it. For more information, read our Privacy Policy.
Pamela Ayuso is an author and the co-founder and CEO of Celaque. She is a real estate entrepreneur and developer who has executive leadership experience in two of the most successful real estate developers in Honduras — managing operations at Alianza and leading Celaque. Celaque develops office and residential buildings and manages a broad portfolio of properties. Pamela’s focus is on growing Celaque into a model for the 21st-century company.
In addition to her role as CEO at Celaque, Pamela is a writer that offers practical business and personal development insights for other entrepreneurs and business leaders on her blog and LinkedIn. She published her first children’s book in 2019, Alicia and Bunnie Paint a Mural.
Pamela Ayuso is an author and the co-founder and CEO of Celaque. She is a real estate entrepreneur and developer who has executive leadership experience in two of the most successful real estate developers in Honduras — managing operations at Alianza and leading Celaque. Celaque develops office and residential buildings and manages a broad portfolio of properties. Pamela’s focus is on growing Celaque into a model for the 21st-century company.
In addition to her role as CEO at Celaque, Pamela is the author of Amazon best-selling book, Heptagram: The 7-Pillar Business Design System for the 21st Century. She offers practical business and personal development insights for other entrepreneurs and business leaders on her blog and LinkedIn. Her husband and her three wonderful daughters inspired the story of her first children’s book, Alicia and Bunnie Paint a Mural.
Join our mailing list and receive our free Time Management for Busy Business Owners e-book.
Pamela Ayuso will use the information on this form to be in touch with you and provide updates. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at contact@pamelaayuso.com. We will treat your information with respect. We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us understand how you use it. For more information, read our Privacy Policy.
Looking for something else? Search to find more practical tips from Pamela.