{"id":45918,"date":"2020-02-07T01:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T01:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roblilwall.com\/en-my\/?p=45918"},"modified":"2025-04-29T15:15:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T07:15:31","slug":"expedition-lessons-for-the-time-of-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roblilwall.com\/en-my\/blog\/2020\/02\/07\/expedition-lessons-for-the-time-of-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Expedition Lessons for the time of coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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It has been a strange and tough two weeks in China, Hong Kong and much of Asia, and how things are going to play out from here feels very uncertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The Wuhan Coronavirus is just the latest great uncertainty to beset us, with changing technology, politics,\u00a0business models, trade wars all just becoming part of the new norm of our uncertain times.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Expeditions, by nature, are full of uncertainty and setback, so here are a few reflections and applications for getting through uncertain times:<\/p>\n\n

1. It’s so easy to lose perspective, but don’t get sucked down a rabbit hole of worry.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

On an expedition<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u2026 there are always a lot of things to worry about. While cycling across Siberia, I constantly worried about the oncoming winter, the bears, the wolves\u2026 I spent a lot of energy on these worries, though in the end it turned out I could survive the winter by preparing well, the bears had hibernated, and there were very few wolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

I continued on through South Korea, and felt much safer, but one morning when I was not worrying at all, I got hit by a truck!<\/p>\n\n

After that I tried to keep risks in better perspective. The traffic was nearly always a bigger danger than bears, robbers or weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

I also focused on controlling the controllables<\/p>\n\n

e.g. preparing for cold weather, rather than worrying about it;\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

e.g. pushing the bike on the sidewalk if I was on a particularly treacherous road<\/p>\n\n

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\"Pushing\n
Pushing my bike up a mountain in Tibet<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Applying to your life\/business<\/span><\/p>\n\n

It is vital to keep risks in perspective.<\/p>\n\n

How might the virus affect business?<\/p>\n\n

Are there other risks you are not thinking about enough? What are they?<\/p>\n\n

What controllables in your company do you need to focus on controlling more, to reduce the risk, and build business?<\/p>\n\n

Also, while it is obviously good to keep abreast of what is going on in times of crisis, in most jobs we do not need to check the news several times an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

In fact that might really distract us from doing a good job and make us feel more depressed and anxious than necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

I check the virus stats once every morning at this site\u00a0https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/coronavirus\/<\/a>, and\u00a0then focus on what I can control in my work.<\/p>\n\n

2. What are the opportunities I can make the most of during this\u00a0difficult time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

On an expedition<\/span><\/p>\n\n

When cycling around Australia, I came down with malaria. I had caught it in Papua New Guinea, which I had just crossed – but I only got ill in Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

In just a few days I lost 10kg, and had to take almost a month off to recover.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

It messed up my plans and my schedule, including some speeches I was due to give.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

But the time off also turned into a valuable time, as I was able to rest, research the next difficult sections of my route (such as through Afghanistan), fix my bike, and buy a video camera (which I almost didn\u2019t do – but I am glad I did because after the expedition National Geographic bought the footage off me and made a TV series!)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Surprisingly, the setback turned out to be a value-adding time for me and the expedition.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

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\"\"\n
Fixing a puncture in Australia<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Applying to your\u00a0life\/business<\/span><\/p>\n\n

If certain business activities are currently limited (e.g. face-to-face client meetings), then how can I\u00a0use this time in the most valuable way?<\/p>\n\n

Can I do more to improve in these areas:<\/p>\n\n