The past two weeks, in particular, only perhaps equaled by a two-week period after the looting and rioting of last year, I’ve found myself at the center of conversations with negative, depressed, stressed, and very emotional people. With the very odd exception, people are taking huge strain. They’re deeply concerned, worried about the future, and really struggling to get to grips with the now.
The range of conversations have also included everyone from retrenched and about to lose their home, unemployed and living in dire poverty to multi-millionaires and everybody in-between. The essence of the conversations though have been 100% the same.
It’s entirely understandable though. The sea of endless problems piled on top of each other and the relentlessness of the media to highlight these must take its toll. Not only is it the Zondo commission findings, seemingly runaway crime, non-stop corruption, failing education, non-existent local service delivery, political maneuvering, legal wranglings but then also record fuel prices, load-shedding, increasing interest rates, Eskom and municipal increases low to almost neutral growth, rising inflation, ever-increasing food prices, and the list goes on and on. I’m getting quite depressed just typing this.
What has however been interesting, and dare I say concerning to me, is that a lot of the negativity is aimed at our beloved country or region. More and more people are looking to jump ship, and are, whilst even more the dream of jumping ship even if they don’t have the wherewithal. Again, completely understandable but whilst we’re bombarded by bad news internally, we often don’t get to see the real and bigger picture.
That real and bigger picture is one where the world is in turmoil. The whole world. It’s not South Africa, or Southern Africa, or even Africa-specific.
To aid you with some perspective I’ve included just a few recent global articles for some perspectives:
Stagnation Risk Rises Amid Sharp Slowdown in Growth
World bank warns a global recession looks inevitable as food and energy prices spiral
US makes most aggressive interest rate hike since 1994
Europe reels under high fuel prices, protests in Poland
Risk of ‘conflict and strife’ in Europe over energy crisis
Boris Johnson resigns: Five things that led to the PM’s downfall
“So that’s very nice”, I hear you say, “but it still doesn’t change my own personal circumstances”. That it does not, and I completely agree, but perhaps a little perspective and some areas to focus on might.
Let us not forget that just two and a half years ago we went into a global lockdown because of an invisible virus. Life as we knew it came to an abrupt halt. We forget the trials and tribulations we endured and that we’ve also come through them. Yes, with battle scars but also with newfound tenacity and resilience. We can surely get through this too. Buckle Up! You’ve got this.
Harry Welby-Cooke, ActionCOACH Country Partner
impact.actioncoach.com | impact@actioncoach.com
Contact Lindie
ActionCOACH Business Coach Lindie Malan
Unit 5 & 6, Toni's Centre
4 Fagan Street
Somerset West, South Africa
Phone: +27 21 203 5335
Mobile: +27 82 921 0482
© 2024 ActionCOACH | Real People. Real Results® | All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service