Wellness

Emotions will vary widely based on how this pandemic has affected you personally. Local therapists offer advice on how to manage feelings of grief.

Photo illustration by Amanda Lucidi

During the past couple months, Ive heard many times that the feelings of the pandemic are sort of like riding a roller coaster. Everyone is experiencing a wide range of emotionssome days youre at the peak, sometimes youre in the valley, and sometimes it feels like youre getting emotional whiplash. Were all clinging to a shaking safety bar on a very scary ride we never agreed to board, with very unclear rules and regulations.

Our emotions also vary widely, based on how this pandemic has affected us personally. Collectively, were all experiencing some type of grief or mourning for the way our lives used to be. The point isnt to throw our hands (and emotions) in the air and laugh. The point is to learn to sit on the ride and feel all the feels until the ride becomes more like a steady stroll or a calm drift. But thats easier said than done, so we reached out to local therapists for tips on how to cultivate your own emotional safety bar.

Janna Koretz, a psychologist and the founder of Azimuth Psychological, says these are the five stages of grief you may be feeling right now:

Obviously, the desirable stage is acceptance. Sort of like after a bad breakup, you just want to get to the point where seeing their name, or thinking about them, doesnt bring up such intense feelings anymore. Simply bringing awareness to what youre feeling and being able to name which stage of grief youre in will help you to process what is going on and work through it to get to the point of acceptance. Spend some time journaling, talking to a trusted friend or family member, or meditating/exercisingto really hone in on what youre feeling.

Unfortunately, there is no time limit to grief, Koretz says, and there is no logical order to the stages. It can be constant for any length of time or wax and wane over weeks, months, and years, she adds. Coming back to those trusted methods of self-management like journaling, counseling, or meditating to get to the bottom of what youre feeling is helpful. If youre feeling worried or anxious about the future, or that youre not getting over things quick enough, Lisa Lewis, psychologist and Northeastern professor, says to focus on the details of what is making you worried or anxious and pinpoint how you can take specific action. Sometimes taking action is the best antidote to feelings of grief, but she also says its simply okay to let things go or put worries to the side for now.

The nurse who is working overtime at Brigham and Womens Hospital is probably in a different stage of grief than a single person working from home with their dog, Koretz explains. Similarly, a married man who has been laid off with two kids to care for is probably experiencing something different as well. The feelings of loss for our daily lives are pretty immense. Nothing is quite the same, and thats a lot to process. Remember this when a loved one has an emotional outburst or a stranger criticizes your social distancing measures. Sometimes peoples reactions are simply a reflection of what theyre going through on the inside. Show them, and yourself, some grace.

Youve all heard this message before while getting ready to take off on in an airplane. Never has it been more accurate for daily life now. Not only do we have to put our own mask on before we help others put theirs on, but similarly, we need to take care of ourselves (physically, mentally, and spiritually) before we can fully help others as well. You cant offer people water if there is nothing left in the cup, Koretz says. Its important to remember, she adds, that taking care of others and yourself are not mutually exclusive activities.

The only way we can be there for those around us fully is by continuously self-evaluating. It becomes obvious when we need to take space when we feel burned out, exhausted, apathetic, lethargic, or irritable, Koretz says. Its important to recognize when weve hit these walls, but it becomes even more important to take preventative self-care measures to prevent hitting those walls in the first place.

A good way to prevent burning ourselves out is to look at our daily routine and recognize which activities are draining us and which are filling us back up, and make changes where necessary. Processing feelings of grief, depending on the severity, can sometimes feel like a full-time job. No matter the severity, it is draining to do that, and when life gets small, its normal to feel depleted, Lewis explains. Its a good sign when you can identify this change in energy and finding any way to conserve energy can help, she says. It might require a bit of energy to add the activity, but if it adds more than it takes away, thats a net gain!

It all comes back to the age-old adage: We have to make the most of what weve got. We still have control over some positive things in our lives, Koretz says. Focus on those. Depression is normal, especially during a time like this, but it helps to look for silver linings, brighter horizons, and happy moments and hold on to them for hope. Like all things, this too shall pass. If depression persists, though, and you cant seem to recognize happy moments anymore, Lewis recommends reaching out to talk to a family or friend, or call a support hotline. We rounded up these free mental health resources as a good place to start.

While we may not be jetting off to Caribbean islands this summer, attending concerts, or watching fireworks, we can still get creative and find things we enjoy. They may not be on the very top of our usual summer to-do list, but they can still be fun, and we may surprise ourselves with how much joy these new activities can bring us, Koretz says. Whether thats being outside, running through a sprinkler, or planting a garden, we can all take solace in being fully present. Personally, I like to have a two-minute dance party every day. Theres nothing quite like getting out of my feels and into my body. It always feels goodand I know I could use more moments like that.

See more here:
Eight Ways to Cope with Feelings of Grief During the COVID Pandemic - bostonmagazine.com

I participated this week in a virtual Battle of the Books, hosted by my local bookstore and moderated by James Mustich, the author of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die. The premise: Persuade the audience to vote for a book that Jim should have included on his list but didnt. The format: Five contestants get four minutes each to make the case for a book of their choosing, from how-to (a cookbook, a feng shui decorating book) to fiction (Jos Saramagos Blindness, Anton Myrers Once an Eagle) to my pick The Journals of John Cheever, which I consider his crowning achievement.

Long story short, I didnt win. The audience, unimpeachably, went for Blindness instead. But I had a great time, and the event made me realize anew how much the pleasure of reading is enhanced by this part the social part, the part after the reading, where we talk about what we love and why, and why you should love it too. Forget 1,000 books. Here are 10 you could read right now, from Lydia Millets slyly apocalyptic new novel to Lauren Sandlers immersive profile of a homeless mother to Judith Warners fraught but entertaining study of the hazards of middle school. Read them all; just make sure you save some time for Saramago, and Cheever, before you die.

Gregory Cowles Senior Editor, Books Twitter: @GregoryCowles

FIGURE IT OUT: Essays, by Wayne Koestenbaum. (Soft Skull, $16.95.) In his latest collection, the polymathic poet and essayist Wayne Koestenbaum documents flirtations with beautiful strangers, the purchase of a new pair of glasses and swimming alongside Nicole Kidman at a local pool. He also writes smitten elegies to his influences, including Adrienne Rich, Susan Sontag and Montaigne. The chief charges against Koestenbaum are frivolity, prurience and self-indulgence, our critic Parul Sehgal writes. To which hed respond, Id hazard, with a cheery: Guilty! His great and singular appeal is this fealty to his own desire and imagination. If his excesses irk, it might be useful to wonder where and how you acquired your limits in the first place figure it out, as the title enjoins.

REDHEAD BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, by Anne Tyler. (Knopf, $26.95.) Micah Mortimer is a classic Tyler protagonist: He lives in Baltimore, he knows how to cook a few things, hes set in his ways until his girlfriend faces eviction and a stranger claims to be his son. What happens next is also classic Tyler, visceral and moving. Tyler has every gift a great novelist needs: intent observation, empathy and language both direct and surprising, Amy Bloom writes in her review. She has unembarrassed goodness as well. In this time of snark, preening, sub-tweeting and the showy torment of characters, we could use more Tyler.

A CHILDRENS BIBLE, by Lydia Millet. (Norton, $25.95.) This superb novel begins as a generational comedy a pack of kids and their middle-aged parents coexist in a summer share and turns steadily darker, as climate collapse and societal breakdown encroach. But Millets light touch never falters; in this time of great upheaval, she implies, our foundational myths take on new meaning and hope. Its not a history, not a tract or a jeremiad; the truth it bears is not going to overwrite the future, Jonathan Dee writes in his review. Its a tale in which whoever or whatever comes after us might recognize, however imperfectly, a certain continuity: an exotic but still decodable shred of evidence from the lost world that is the world we are living in right now.

AND THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM, by Nicolas Mathieu. Translated by William Rodarmor. (Other Press, paper, $17.99.) Mathieus coming-of-age novel won Frances top literary prize, the Goncourt, in 2018, just as the Yellow Vest protests took hold. Its depictions of a community crushed by deindustrialization help explain populist rage against economic elites. As suffused with local color as this book is, parallels with left-behind swaths of America (and England, and many other places, too) stand out on every page, Thomas Chatterton Williams writes in his review. But there is also that other, mysterious appeal in which a story resonates in ways that even the most devastating sociology and journalism cannot. And that is what will keep me thinking of these unremarkable characters in this made-up town for a very long time.

HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD, by C Pam Zhang. (Riverhead, $26.) Zhangs mesmerizing tale of two Chinese-American siblings crossing the West during the gold rush, with their fathers corpse in tow, unfolds in a landscape of desolation and struggle that recalls Steinbeck and Faulkner, and in a voice that is all her own. Our reviewer, Martha Southgate, calls it an aching book, full of myths of Zhangs making (including tigers that roam the Western hills) as well as joys, as well as sorrows. Its violent and surprising and musical. Like Lucy and Sam, the novel wanders down byways and takes detours and chances. By journeys end, youre enriched and enlightened by the lives you have witnessed.

THIS IS ALL I GOT: A New Mothers Search for Home, by Lauren Sandler. (Random House, $27.) In 2015, Sandler was volunteering at a homeless shelter when she met Camila, a pregnant resident who was determined to find a permanent, safe place to raise her child. This book charts her path through red tape, educational challenges, family crises and moments of joy amid unimaginable struggle. Our reviewer, Alex Kotlowitz, calls it a riveting book and a remarkable feat of reporting. It is, he adds, a testament to the bigness of the small story, to the power of intimate narratives to speak to something much larger. Sandler wisely lets Camilas story stand on its own without lecturing us. Not to sound clichd, but we walk in Camilas shoes. We come to understand what Sandler recognized early on: If Camila cant navigate the dearth of housing, how can others?

AND THEN THEY STOPPED TALKING TO ME: Making Sense of Middle School, by Judith Warner. (Crown, $27.) Part sociology, part memoir, part self-help, this entertaining guide to the education systems most notorious institution aims to explain why trauma and humiliation figure so prominently in our associations with junior high. Warner knows of what she speaks, Shannon Hale writes in her review. Not only is the book well researched, but she also gets personal with her tales of middle school woe both as a former student and as a parent. It is the caregivers of current middle schoolers who might gain the most solace and insight from this book, those who find that shepherding children through what was once called junior high brings back their own trauma in unexpectedly painful ways.

KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982, by Cho Nam-Joo. Translated by Jamie Chang. (Liveright, $20.) A sensation when it appeared in South Korea in 2016, this novel recounts, in the dispassionate language of a case history, the descent into madness of a young wife and mother a Korean Everywoman whose plight illuminates the effects of a sexist society. This novel is about the banality of the evil that is systemic misogyny, Euny Hong writes in her review. Perhaps the novels international exposure will force South Korea to have another reckoning with what it plans to do about its biggest elephant in the room.

ST. IVO, by Joanna Hershon. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26.95.) After years of estrangement, two once-close couples reconnect during a weekend in an upstate farmhouse. Secrets simmer and the absence of a beloved daughter introduces an element of mystery to this taut, thoughtful novel. Though it moves at a harrowing pace, this is not a traditional thriller, Danya Kukafka writes in her review. The friction resides, innovatively, in the agony of interpersonal misunderstandings, the awkwardness of old friends now strangers trapped together for a period of days.

WHAT WE CARRY, by Maya Shanbhag Lang. (Dial, $27.) Langs memoir of her relationship with her mother explores female identity, generational disconnect and the power of story. What happens when a mother refuses to help a daughter? Lang asks hard questions and presents moving answers. The shined-up, mythical stories our mothers tell us about their own beginnings are meant to bolster us, perhaps; but here, in exquisitely precise prose, Lang makes an argument that honesty is whats truly empowering, Mary Beth Keane writes, reviewing the book alongside two other mother-daughter narratives. In the closing chapters, we see a relationship between mother and daughter that feels new and tentative because life changes so much every few years, bringing out unseen sides to each of them.

The rest is here:
10 New Books We Recommend This Week - The New York Times

(CNN) When McDonalds restaurants reopen, customers should expect stickers on the floor encouraging social distancing and the closure of self-serve beverage bars. Workers wearing masks might check in with a thumbs up, or kindly ask you to move away from others.

The chain, which is preparing to reopen its locations globally as some US states loosen stay-at-home orderes, recently sent out a detailed instruction manual to franchise operators in the United States. The 59-page document, which was obtained by CNN Business, outlines the minimum sanitation and social-distancing requirements each must meet before opening its dining rooms. The contents of the manual were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Franchisees, which operate over 90% of all McDonalds world-wide, will have to pay for their own supplies, the document said.

The playbook also details how to keep the restaurants clean and make sure customers see the efforts. It spells out how to keep customers six feet away from each other, and mandate the use of some personal protective equipment.

Workers must clean and sanitize tables after each use and restrooms every 30 minutes. McDonalds recommends using a tracking sheet to document the cleanings. Employees have to wash their hands every hour. Restaurants dont have to turn on their touch-screen kiosks, but if they do, those screens and key pads have to be cleaned after every use.

The instruction manual outlines ways for restaurant operators to keep customers apart: They must close off some tables and seating areas and use floor stickers to mark out clearly recognizable paths that will keep customers six feet away from each other while waiting in line. The stickers should also help keep people six feet away from tables. The restaurants must also keep PlayPlaces closed and disable any interactive games.

Theyll also have to close self-serve beverage bars.

Thats both on recommendation from an epidemiologist, and because of how self-service bars may make customers feel.

Brand perception is another concern, the guide notes, and how this would/could play out in the minds of the customers given heightened perceptions around hygiene and safety as they see other customers not take precautions.

Instead, employees must pour drinks out for customers, preferably using fountains usually designated for the drive-thru.

The guidance also mandates the use of personal protective equipment for employees.

Workers have to wear face masks or face coverings, and all employees who handle food or service have to wear gloves.

Customers arent required to wear masks, but masks should be available to them upon request in municipalities where face coverings are required. Protective panels have to be installed at drive-thru windows and counters where orders are taken.

The playbook also gives employees guidelines on how to talk to people who might be wondering why McDonalds is opening its dining areas at all.

Workers can say, We are all in this together and this team has come together in so many amazing ways over the last few months. If someone refuses to social distance, they can try I apologize for any inconvenience, but to help keep everyone safe, wed like all our guests to maintain a safe distance of 6 feet from each other and our staff. McDonalds highly recommends workers use a thumbs up to check back in with customers who are eating at tables.

A woman was arrested last week on suspicion of shooting a fast-food worker and injuring others after they told her to leave a McDonalds restaurant in Oklahoma City, according to police.

Excerpt from:
McDonald's is going to look drastically different when it opens - East Idaho News

Executive Summary

At MIT Sloan School of Managements delta v accelerator 84 entrepreneurs participated in a first-of-its-kind, exploratory self-awareness program. By the end of the program, 88% of the participants (up from 21%) had independently established their own regular, weekly meditation or mindfulness practice; 53% of participants were more frequently utilizing a deliberate tool or technique to work through stress; and 40% were more aware of their emotions. While in previous years, accelerator participants valued their startups above all else, in this cohort, they not only valued their own well-being, but they more often offered and accepted help. They demonstrated that they didnt have to be harried and constantly stressed to show their passion for their startups.

Entrepreneurs are so passionate about what they are creating and often, so fearful of letting their team and investors down that they will do almost anything to realize their startups potential. Stories of sacrifice abound in founder blogs and startup post-mortems, with entrepreneurs forgoing sleep, friendships, family relationships, exercise, and good nutrition for their startups. This startup-above-all-else approach can lead to chronic stress, which wreaks havoc on entrepreneurs physical and mental health. A UCSF study found that entrepreneurs may already be prone to mental health conditions more than the general population, and in our personal experience, anxiety, self-doubt, depression, and loneliness are rampant among entrepreneurs.

What if compromising yourself for your startup isnt necessary for success? And further, what if its possible to teach entrepreneurs to work through the stresses of entrepreneurship more effectively, so they dont compound into chronic issues?

At MIT Sloan School of Managements delta v accelerator this past year, we took a step toward answering that question, creating a first-of-its-kind, exploratory self-awareness program to help 84 founders and their team members prioritize their individual well-being while building their businesses and measuring the results. By the end of the program, 93% of our cohort felt that self-awareness practice can help entrepreneurs create more successful businesses. More than anything, it gave our team a neutral, common language to build our relationships and culture, said a participant.

In developing the program, we knew that recommending particular self-care strategies creating a wind-down routine before bed, eating well, or taking breaks, for example would not be enough to shift the ingrained view that outsized stress and sacrifice is necessary for entrepreneurship, or to convince entrepreneurs to spend any of their extremely limited time on something other than their startups.

Instead, we (the authors) designed a test program to help accelerator participants develop greater self-awareness. We hypothesized that if entrepreneurs understood more about the mechanics of themselves their thoughts, feelings, and automatic physical and emotional responses they could make better personal choices in the face of the everyday stresses of entrepreneurship. Participants were taught a simple framework for building self-awareness:

Our framework is an expanded form of mindfulness defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. To practice the framework, participants were taught mindfulness meditation, which has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety and help regulate emotion, among many other benefits. They also learned short mindfulness practices that they could integrate into their lives. In addition, we conducted small, peer group sessions, where we discussed key choices entrepreneurs face. Participants could use these sessions to vent and get feedback and perspective in a confidential setting. The small group meetings were mandatory, and everything else was optional.

To measure the impact of this methodology on our student entrepreneurs, we surveyed them before and after the delta v program, with 60 participants responding. The results were significant.

By the end of the program, 88% of the participants had independently established their own regular, weekly meditation or mindfulness practice. Before the program, 65% had never meditated, and only 21% were regularly practicing meditation or mindfulness. We didnt require that they start their own practice. We simply presented the research-backed benefits and showed them how it was possible to integrate it into their already-packed day. They decided that it was worth their time, and that they didnt have to view it as one more thing on their to-do list. While some participants chose to meditate regularly, others chose, for example, to make their morning subway commute into a mindfulness practice, taking five minutes (from stop A to stop B, for example) to pay attention to what they were hearing, seeing, and experiencing. As thoughts or feelings arose, they would label them, and go right back to focusing on their environment.

We also found that their practice was paying off and creating behavioral change. After the program, 53% of participants were more frequently utilizing a deliberate tool or technique to work through stress, and 40% were more aware of their emotions. These entrepreneurs were making active, moment-to-moment choices to change their habitual responses to stressful situations.

Finally, participants became more aware of themselves by sharing their challenges with each other. One third of the participants, via an open-ended question, said they found particular value in the learning, camaraderie, and openness they experienced in their peer groups. I became more open to sharing inner challenges with others, one entrepreneur said. Listening to perspectives and stories of colleagues in the cohort helped me be wiser about how I can approach complicated [issues] with higher confidence.

Self-awareness isnt a magic bullet. The program didnt alleviate stress completely. In a post-program survey just a few days before Demo Day, when they would pitch their startups to more than 1,000 people, 40% of our participants were experiencing more difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep than they were at the beginning of the accelerator. Incredibly though, and in contrast with previous delta v cohorts, they were making the active choice to sleep.

The culture of delta v changed. While in previous years, members valued their startups above all else, in this cohort, they not only valued their own well-being, but they more often offered and accepted help. They demonstrated that they didnt have to be harried and constantly stressed to show their passion for their startups.

Will the startups in this delta v cohort be more or less successful than cohorts before them? We cant say, yet. As we continue the program, we will build on our data set and track our participants. But we think that the additional tools the program provided will help them in their entrepreneurial efforts now and over the long-term. Rather than a state of being, self-awareness is a habit to be practiced over and over again. The 12 weeks of the accelerator gave entrepreneurs the chance to practice what they were learning, see the consequences play out over time, and integrate their learnings into their startups. We feel confident they will continue to do so as they build their companies outside of delta v.

We believe that integrating self-awareness into the entrepreneurial ecosystem entrepreneur by entrepreneur will lead to healthier startup cultures. This benefit wont just accrue to founders, in our estimation, but will create a ripple effect and extend to their team members, their stakeholders, and their customers, resulting in healthier and more successful businesses.

Read the original:
Passion for Your Startup Doesn't Have to Mean Constant Stress - Harvard Business Review

Right now, we are in the midst of a powerful wind. As a community, as a nation, and as a world, we have been hit by a virus named COVID-19.

When I think of a picture to go along with this quote, the movie 'The Perfect Storm' comes to mind. Granted, it wasnt a sailboat, but a much larger boat, and yet it was faced with the challenge of staying afloat as the great storm crashed into them. Right now, as humans, we are experiencing a great storm that has disrupted our lives. This virus has changed everything about how we function; from how we shop for necessities to how we educate our children. We know we cannot direct the wind, so how do we adjust our sails? Here are some tips on things you can do in your life to help during this time.

Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, there is nothing easy or normal about what we are experiencing. As humans, we were born for social connection. Our ancestors lived and traveled in tribes and this served an important purpose: survival. At this time in our lives, it becomes important to figure out new ways to create social connections. Technology offers many ways to connect, ranging from a phone call to apps such as Marco Polo or Zoom where you can send videos or have live group chats. Moving away from technology and using other resources, you can mail a letter or card to someone you care about. This could be a great opportunity to teach a new generation the excitement of going to the mailbox and finding a card or letter from a loved one. There are creative ways of creating social connection while practicing social distancing.

On Easter Sunday, I heard cars honking outside, and I went to my window and saw a parade of Easter well- wishers driving down my road, honking and waving. There are ways to build connections while maintaining social distancing, it just takes some creativity.

Self-care is a term that has become mainstreamed today but is often misunderstood. Self- care is any activity we do on purpose to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although its a simple concept in theory, its something we often overlook. Good self-care is key to improving our mood and reducing anxiety. Its also key to a good relationship with oneself and others.

Self-care means examining the different components of our lives: spiritual, physical, mental, psychological, and social, and exploring areas lacking attention. Its recognizing the importance of all components and finding ways we can work to improve what we are giving to each of them. It means figuring out how to give the world the best of you instead of whats left of you. Some examples of self-care could include setting aside time in your day to take a breathing break, going for a walk outside, or taking a hot bath. Self-care is finding what works for you.

Believe it or not, there has been extensive research completed on the Science of Happiness. There is a whole movement called Positive Psychology that is devoted to this. By and large, much of the research comes back to one main skill that can be strengthened to improve overall happiness and life satisfaction. And that is gratitude.

One might be thinking: We are amid a pandemic, what is there to be thankful for? But the answer is there are many things to be grateful for, but it might be harder to find them right now. But once you get in the practice of finding these things, it becomes much easier. A great way to start or end each day is by stopping and reflecting on three good things. This activity is simple, but research shows that ending each day consistently reflecting on or writing down three good things has a positive impact on our mood for the next week and even month! This is a great dinner time activity, especially for those with younger kids. Ask everyone around the table to share three good things that happened during the day. It stimulates conversation and helps instill gratitude into our daily lives.

During this new and challenging time in our lives, we are all feeling an onslaught of emotions. We are actively engaged in grieving life as we knew it, along with significant events and in some cases, loss of life. It is important we find ways to feel and metabolize these emotions. Research has shown that a great way to do this is by using words to get these emotions from inside our head to outside of our bodies.

Journaling and talking to a trusted peer are two ways to do this. Sometimes people are intimidated by the thought of journaling ; feeling like they need to write things properly or fill up an entire page. This is not so; there are no rules in journaling! This experience is about writing what you think and feel, whether it is incomplete sentences filled with words, a poem, or even a drawing. Do what feels comfortable to you.

Given the challenge of social distancing, it may be more of a challenge to connect with a trusted peer. Again, I encourage you to explore new ways of doing this. In addition to peer support, mental health professionals continue to work during this time. Many are available via telehealth and this offers a way of receiving counseling while maintaining social distancing. This means you could be in your home and be seen by a professional.

Research has shown exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function. However, people often respond negatively to the word exercise. It can feel like a chore; one more thing to knock off your list. But here is another way of looking at it: movement. Try to increase your movement a little each day.

I am reading a book about explorers of Antarctica, and they have a saying: 11 more steps. This comes from the experience of previous explorers who they discovered would have survived their adventures across Antarctica if they had just gone 11 more steps each day. Perhaps look at your life and small ways to incorporate increases in movement perhaps just 11 more steps.

With workout centers being closed, there are numerous offerings on the internet of free exercise classes that can be done at home using household items as equipment. However, if that feels overwhelming, keep it simple and focus on increasing your movement.

In closing, I encourage you to find ways to adjust your sails as we weather this storm together. It is important to remind ourselves we are all in this together, and as a society we are experiencing the same emotional roller coaster. No one has been through this before and no one has all the answers. This is a time to practice grace with each other and ourselves.

Mithun is a Behavioral Health Home Integration Specialist at Lakewood Health System in Staples.

Read the original:
Mithun: The need to adjust our sails in uncertain times - Wadena Pioneer Journal

Looking back on their years as Mountain Hawks, seniors share their advice with younger and incoming students to make the most of their experiences at Lehigh.

As a Gryphon for first-year students, Alanna Lynch, 20, said she often sees incoming freshmen expecting to meet their friends in their classes, but she said for most students, this isnt the case.

Alanna Lynch, 20

She said students shouldnt be afraid to go out of their comfort zones and get involved with different clubs they are passionate about. That is where students end up meeting a lot of their friends, Lynch said.

This is probably the four years of your life that you have the most opportunities to get involved in something different, said Rhiannon Accetta, 20. You might as well take advantage of trying something new.

Anne Chabak, 20, said she knows its hard for students when they first get to campus, but she believes it is worth it.

Chabak said she got more involved her sophomore year, joining a sorority and a club sports team, which allowed her to make more friends than she did her first year.

Christopher Pineda, 20, said he recommends getting involved on campus early. He joined Engineers Without Borders his first year and stayed with the group throughout his time at Lehigh.

I enjoyed their way of thinking and how they saw the world, so I stayed with that group throughout the years, Pineda said. And honestly, that selling point of a good club or organization that youve been a part of is really good for job recruiters.

Lynch said when first adjusting to college, its normal for students to feel homesick. She is from Franklin, Massachusetts, and said she was especially homesick her freshman year.

If students are ever feeling homesick, Lynch said they should talk to other people because they are not alone.

Developing a strong support system during the first few months on campus is important, Lynch said.

One thing Lynch said she regrets is not making a greater effort to keep her freshman year friends as she got older and more involved on campus.

Rhiannon Accetta, 20

Even though some may think they have established all of their friends by senior year, it is likely easier to build new friendships and connections senior year, Accetta said. She said she believes she made most of her friends at the end of her Lehigh experience.

Everybody on campus is a familiar face, Accetta said. We all have such a connection to each other because weve been at Lehigh for so long. You can relate to anybody that you meet on campus in some way.

Getting involved in organizations around campus is also a great chance to meet upperclassmen who can give academic advice, Chabak said.

With registration for the fall semester, younger students have been reaching out to Chabak with questions about classes and professors.

I think thats very beneficial because theres no use in making the same mistakes twice, Chabak said. Making friends and asking those questions is just going to help you in the long run.

Accetta and Lynch both said for academics, students should take advantage of office hours and build relationships with their professors.

In high school, Accetta said she didnt need to study as much, but when she arrived at Lehigh as a bioengineering major, she found herself overwhelmed.

Underclassmen should not be afraid to reach out to friends in their classes for help and also their professors, Accetta said.

Lynch, a biology major with a minor in health, medicine and society, said she always advises her residents to attend office hours. When professors see students making an effort, they are more likely to help them out, she said.

Anne Chabak, 20

Although they might be intimidating, every professor Ive ever had has always been so willing to make time outside of class for you, Accetta said. They want to see you succeed. They dont want you to be struggling and trying to figure it out yourself.

Chabak, a double major in finance and marketing, said she wishes she had taken advantage of academic planning and her advisors during her earlier years to fully plan out her academics and schedule.

Going into her junior year, Chabak said she realized she had more room in her schedule than she anticipated, which is when she added marketing as her second major.

I also totally couldve just snuck in a minor in something, but I just never explored it because I was too focused on figuring out my major, Chabak said.

Pineda, an electrical engineer major, is going on to work in sales engineering after graduating. To help with time management, he advises students to plan out a calendar with time slots set aside to do certain things.

I know freshman year, I definitely didnt do that, and I kept on forgetting about assignments or having to do them late and making up excuses, Pineda said. As soon as I got a calendar and got everything in place, I started doing significantly better in school.

Chris Pineida, 20

Lynch said she wishes she found a better balance between learning and self-care during her time at Lehigh. She kept academics first for the majority of her college career, but advises younger students to enjoy everything college has to offer while staying focused on academics.

Lynch said losing her second semester of senior year made her realize there were a lot of things she wishes she had done, so students should appreciate their time at Lehigh.

She said she wishes she had given up a few Friday and Saturday nights studying in the library to hang out with her friends. She said she also wishes she walked up to the Bethlehem Star.

Chabaks biggest regret is not taking advantage of Lehighs study abroad opportunities. She said she had plans to go abroad during the spring semester of her junior year, but was apprehensive because she had never left the country before and backed out at the last minute.

Its such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and now I have a job lined up after graduation, Chabak said. I dont know if Im ever going to have that time to take off to really go immerse myself in another culture.

Four years seems like a long time, but losing her final seven weeks at Lehigh made it feel like it went by too fast, Accetta said.

Accetta said she will remember memories from the first semester of her freshman year for the rest of her life.

Pineda said it was really nice to have people around to share and talk through ideas with. Students should really appreciate all the people they meet and the time they spend with each other, he said.

There are a lot of diverse people in the Lehigh community, Lynch said. If you stay in your own little bubble, you wont get the full Lehigh experience.

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Seniors give valuable college advice - The Brown and White

WUHAN, CHINA - MARCH 30 2020: Masked staff pose for a photo in a shop of luxury goods in a high-end ... [+] shopping center in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, March 30, 2020, after nearly ten weeks of Covid-19 break.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Feature China / Barcroft Studios / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Since the 2008/2009 recession, China has effectively become the tail that wags the dog of the global luxury market.

Thats because China was largely unaffected by the economic downturn that battered the market throughout the rest of the world. Not only that, Chinese consumers, with their growing economic power, expressed a heady appetite for luxury brands that signaled status in a culture where that really mattered.

Now after the beating luxury brands have taken due to the coronavirus pandemic, which Bain and Company predicts will strike off 20% to 35% of the personal luxury goods market in 2020 and McKinsey is on record for sales to shrink as much as 35% to 39%, all eyes are on the Chinese to restore luxury brands fortunes.

In analyzing prospects for the luxury markets recovery, Bains latest report takes a glass-half-full view of the industrys future. It predicts the industry will recover by end of 2022 or early 2023 to 2019 sales levels of 281 billion ($304 billion).

And to do that, China is the industrys only hope, says Claudia DAprizio, Bain partner and leader of its luxury goods practice.

The economy in China will be the one that will be least impacted by the long tail of this planetary crisis, DAprizio told me. For the luxury market, we think the recovery will be stronger and faster in China than in the U.S. and Europe.

Already Bain reports the best-performing brands are registering year-over-year sales increases in China for the first four months of 2020. While store traffic remains down, consumers who visit are reportedly more inclined to buy and their level of spending has increased.

Having grown dependent on the Chinese market for growth or more correctly addicted luxury brands are going to have to keep the pressure on to reach that ambitious 2022/2023 recovery schedule.

In 2019 Chinese consumers alone accounted for 90% of the growth in the personal luxury goods market or some 19 billion ($21 billion) in sales. They also generated 35% of global luxury spending.

By comparison, American consumers generated only 22% of the industrys sales and Europeans 17%, and their share of the market has declined from 27% and 30% respectively since 2000, while Chinas share has grown from 2%.

Further, Bain expects that Chinese consumers will make more than half of luxury goods purchases by 2025 when global sales are expected to reach 320-330 billion ($346-357 billion). That means they would have to gain some 15% more market share in only five years, a pretty aggressive expectation.

DAprizio admits predicting the future for luxury coming out of this crisis is particularly problematic since it impacted not just consumers financial wellbeing, but their health and emotions. Its probably going to have more than double the impact that the industry had from 2007 to 2009, she says.

What can get luxury brands off course in the post-coronavirus world, even if China rebounds as strongly as Bain expects? Plenty.

First, nobodys going anywhere, as the travel industry will be the very last to recover.

About 40% of overall [global] sales are made when people are traveling, so that is something that will be slow to recover, DAprizio shares, as she predicts repatrization of purchases in China will offset losses due to reduced travelling as the government is pushing for more local consumption.

On-the-go Chinese consumers have been big luxury shoppers. Luxury sales in mainland China made up only 11% of global sales in 2019, compared to Chinese consumers 35% total market share.

Second, luxury brands are counting on Chinese consumers to have not just the same appetite for their pricey goods, but also the same spending power. That is to be determined.

The Chinese economy contracted 6.8% in the first quarter 2020, with industrial production down 1.1% and imports/exports off 6.4%.

Since Chinas factories feed the rest of the worlds markets and the coronavirus shutdowns and resulting canceled orders didnt happen until the second quarter elsewhere, it may be a long shot to achieve the expected 1.3% year-over-year growth in the second quarter.

Complicating matters further is rising Chinese unemployment. CNN Business reports that as many as 80 million Chinese workers are out of a job, while the official figure from government sources are far lower.

Calling data from Beijing notoriously opaque, CNN quotes economists at Socit Gnrale reporting that nearly 10% of people in China are jobless.

Rising unemployment may hit luxury brand performance in China harder than in Western markets. A lot of the luxury market depends on the aspirational drives of middle-income Chinese consumers. But if they lose that income, the luxury market will lose those customers, Luxury Dailys Mickey Alam Kahn shares.

Consider also that the U.S. has four-times more truly wealthy consumers than China, 18.8 million millionaires compared with 4.4 million in China.

Third, what DAprizio calls the selling ceremony, which is so important to Chinese consumers, will be disrupted by social distancing measures required in the post-coronavirus world.

There is an element of cautiousness and fear linked to the possibility of contagion which will reduce store traffic. The sanitary control measures required are not the best setting for luxury shopping which has a huge emotional element, she says.

She also foresees fewer luxury store openings which will put more emphasis on e-commerce, as well as the need for greater marketing efforts.

Luxury brands will have to pull all the marketing levers and make investments in the most efficient way, which will likely result in a hit to brands profitability down the road.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, the coronavirus is going to heighten cultural sensitivities in the luxury market.

There is a lot of tension around inequalities, especially among the lower-income tiers of the population, DAprizio shares. And its not just tension between the haves and the have-nots but also the tension between the East and West.

As Western luxury brands have focused on the Chinese consumers for growth, they have committed any number of mistakes reflecting gross cultural insensitivity, like the notorious Dolce & Gabanna campaign featuring a model eating pizza with chopsticks.

While DAprizio lauds the luxury industry as the melting pot of creativity everywhere, she also foresees the danger of strongly increasing local sensitivites, arising from the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China and already is a point of sensitivity for the Chinese people.

Brands really need to pay attention to elements of the monocultural reality and try to be relevant with authenticity around local cultures and local sensitivities, she says.

It is important to note her emphasis on local cultures and sensitivities because both China and Hong Kong are important markets for luxury brands, yet they have cultural differences, challenging a one-size-fits-all-China approach to these markets.

Coronavirus is going to accelerate a trend that Bain defines as cultural relevance and local tribes.

There has been a social strengthening of localism and nationalism, she shares. In particular the younger Chinese consumers are developing a stronger demand for Chinese products, local brands and local enterprises. This will probably accelerate and be a threat for European brands.

To meet this shift, DAprizio calls on luxury brands to develop a global framework that is large enough to accommodate all these differences and all the differing cultural needs, she says, and continues, Luxury brands will need to make room for more collaborations with local designers, artists, and creatives to gain relevance around this trend toward strong localization.

In closing, DAprizio sees hope, and challenges, on the horizon not just in China but around the world coming from the next generational shift in the luxury market, from Baby Boomers and GenX consumers to Millennials and GenZ.

These are both the luxury consumers of today and tomorrow. They are a wave shaping and creating luxury brands evolution in terms of messaging and purpose, she concludes. I see these consumers as a very positive underlying driver for success, as long as brands stay in tune with the next generations.

As long as is an important qualifier in that statement and many brands have tripped up staying in tune with consumers aspirations and drives when generations shift.

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Fate Of Luxury Depends On China, But Continued Success There Is Not Guaranteed - Forbes

BOULDER A cross-section of interviews with dozens of startup leaders by Boulder-based Rebel Consultants LLC broadly point to personal relationship-building and innovation in the face of crisis as key to success once the world is able to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rebel Consultants CEO Brian Baker recapped the series of interviews with 28 business leaders from early-stage startups to companies in the Fortune 500 during a Tuesday session of Boulder Startup Week.

Baker described the current climate as the largest economic shutdown in the history of mankind, and the federal governments spending to keep commerce afloat as the biggest governmental action in history.

But many of the respondents, including from both sides of the political spectrum, were angry with the federal response being either too financially weak from the view of liberals or too imposing on the free flow of commerce in the view of conservatives.

Theres a huge identity with tribe in the United States. Its not like this is new, but it is being strengthened by COVID-19 and there is a huge level of impatience with anyone whos on the other side, he said.

Yet the leaders in the survey all said businesses will not return to pre-COVID normals because personal behaviors will shift.

That new paradigm will force executives to re-examine every part of their company, from outside vendors to their employees. Baker believes that businesses need to begin preparing to show their clients their value, and employees should be ready to show why they offer more value compared with someone else who is currently among the countrys unemployed.

All roles and vendors will be reviewed for (return on investment), and thats something every worker should be prepared for, he said. In fact, I would go ahead and type up why youre important to the organization, and I would do that all the way to the executive level right now.

Baker said the landscape for calling workers back is a virtual unknown right now for the survey respondents, who arent sure if they would be legally liable if an employee were to contract COVID on the job.

Theyre looking to strike some kind of balance between legal and human capital, he said.

About a quarter of the survey respondents said they were in personal contact with their customers during the past few months, which he derided as a horrible figure. He argues that while marketing remains important, offering generic platitudes in a mass email is less effective than building personal relationships in a time of social distancing.

Stay safe is not something professionals want to see in an email signature, it seems a little trite at the moment, he said.

Baker also suggested companies dont look at dropping prices for their services as a way to increase sales volume, arguing that customers will be willing to pay full price down the road when incomes have stabilized.

All of the survey respondents said they were looking for new market opportunities in a post-COVID world as they try to model other major companies that struck it big in the aftermath of a major historical event.

Baker noted that Facebook and Pinterest launched in the years after 9/11 as people looked to find more communities, while tech startups Venmo, Airbnb and the whitepaper underpinning Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies debuted in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis.

So its not like we cant do well after a big crisis. In fact, we usually do pretty well. And after the 2008 crisis, we got a lot of stuff, he said.

2020 BizWest Media LLC

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Boulder Startup Week: what 28 startup leaders think will succeed in a post-COVID world - Boulder Daily Camera

GENEVA The head of the World Trade Organization said Thursday that he will leave his post a year early, a personal decision that sets the stage for a succession contest at the trade body amid lingering U.S.-China tensions and a coronavirus pandemic that has doused the global economy.

Roberto Azevedo, a 62-year-old Brazilian, said he will step down Aug. 31 as WTO director-general, ending a seven-year tenure marked in recent years by intense pressure from President Donald Trump, who repeatedly accused the Geneva-based trade body of unfair treatment of the United States and launched a trade war with China in defiance of the WTO system.

This is a decision that I do not take lightly, Azevedo told a special meeting of WTO delegations. It is a personal decision - a family decision and I am convinced that this decision serves the best interests of this organization.

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Head of World Trade Organization to step down early - Minneapolis Star Tribune

This article was created by StackCommerce in partnership with Content Works, Postmedias commercial content division. While Postmedia may collect a commission on sales through the links on this page, we are not being paid by the brands mentioned.

What do the worlds most successful people have in common? They read. A lot. Most CEOs and executives read four to five books per month. Theyre not just doing it because they love murder mysteries or sci-fi adventures, theyre doing it because reading is a key ingredient to success. Reading has a multitude of personal and professional benefits that you may not have considered.

Want to learn more? Weve gone ahead and listed below some of the major benefits you can gain from reading, as well as some handy resources that can help you read more in less time.

Leaders must stay ahead of the curve and keep up with the most up-to-date and important information of the day. Knowing trends and developments in your industry will help you make educated decisions that can drive your company forward. Reading keeps you in the know and allows you to think more critically about decisions that need to be made.

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According to a University of California, Berkeley study, readers are excellent at analyzing information. Readers are well-practiced in deciphering and interpreting language, which makes them excellent at handling abstract information and analyzing situations. Those are incredibly handy skills in business.

The more you read, the more your vocabulary and grasp of language will improve, allowing you to speak more confidently. However, youll also gain a better understanding of sentence structure and rhythm, allowing you to write better. Reading teaches you how to write persuasively and concisely. Employers like employees who can both speak and write effectively.

When you read, you interact with an authors world through his or her perspective. Youre constantly comparing that perspective to your own, thereby gaining an appreciation for alternative viewpoints and opinions. This allows you to develop empathy and interpersonal skills.

Communication is a major cornerstone of leadership, and if your goal with reading is to become a better leader, Soundview Executive Book Summaries can also help. Working with leading book publishers and best-selling authors, Soundview is another book summary service that extracts the key takeaways from vital leadership concepts like management, motivation, HR, and entrepreneurship. You can get a 1-year subscription now for $49.99, or 49 per cent off the usual $99 price.

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Reading introduces you to new people and places constantly. When you frequently put yourself outside of your comfort zone by reading, you develop new perspectives and learn new things. The more you know, the more capable you are, and the more interesting you are to talk to.

If you want to take a more general approach to your reading goals, both 12min Micro Book Library and CatchUp Book Summaries can help. Both services sport bite-sized book summaries from a variety of genres and topics, and theyre both on sale now. You can get lifetime access to CatchUp for only $29 (90 per cent off the usual price) today or lifetime access to 12min for $39 (88 per cent off the normal price) as well.

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Seven reasons why you should be reading as much as the world's top business leaders - Financial Post