The Worst Times in History That Led to The Best Times in History
On WWII: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning.
Have you noticed it already? The evenings see you inventing your own stories to narrate to your children. The mornings see you playing a dusty instrument, dancing in the living room or singing to your neighbours. You’re building, writing, crafting, painting or roasting up a storm never-before-seen by your kitchen. You’ve been more creative these past two weeks than the past two years.
During times of crisis, the human mind bursts with innovation. It’s the reason more love songs are written in heartbreak than in love. Ideas pop, explode and come to life through pain, action, play, desire and IMAGINATION. In tragedy, you discover a resourcefulness you’ve never quite met in yourself.
Every business, book, invention or creation began with a simple idea. Whether you think you are creative or not, we are, by biology, creatives.
Indeed, history books are punctuated with difficult times – and yet, from the loss of jobs, businesses, livelihoods and lives, invention is borne. The 2020 Pandemic of COVID-19 will be no exception.
1918-1920 The Spanish Flu
The Spanish Flu was a beast. If this devastating bout of influenza hasn’t arrived in your conversations these past few weeks, it surely will. In its three short years, this virus infected 500 million people (one third of the world’s population). A public health nightmare, it claimed approximately 50 million lives globally. Around this time, post-WWI soldiers were eager to return to a prosperous life. Radio and silent films were invented, Henry Ford revolutionised transport when he invented the automobile, the tourism industry came to life and advanced immunisations were introduced.
1929-1935 The Great Depression
A severe and worldwide economic recession that affected all communities, from the privileged to penniless, The Great Depression started in the US and spread globally for over a decade. As the longest, deepest worldwide depression in the 20th century, the US unemployment rate hit 23%. The Great Depression gave rise to the first automatic photocopier, the tampon, the chocolate chip cookie, the first car radio, high-speed photography, Nylon and the first ever supermarket.
1939-1945 World War II
WWII: an unfathomable era – a juncture in time where nothing would ever be the same again. So, what was it that kept these men alive whilst ‘living’ in the pits of hell? A will to survive. And what drives that? Creativity and love. Those who knew they still had a book inside them to write, a business to start, an invention to unearth, a painting to paint – whatever the reason, if they had one, they would survive. The human mind is an incredible place. The 1940s saw an abundance of innovation; pressurised cabins, penicillin, the first computer and the Christian Dior New Look that revolutionised the apparel industry.
1343-1543 The Black Death
The Black Death was the most devastating pandemic ever recorded in human history, responsible for the loss of up to 200 million lives. It created a number of social, religious and economic upheavals across Eurasia, wiping out 60% of Europe’s population. The pandemic lasted for 200 years, and some regions took nearly 600 years to recover. In the wake of such tragedy, came an era of invention: pocket watches, pencils, etching, thermometres, bottled beer, flushing toilets and Leonardo Da Vinci’s many inventions and artworks.
Today, as we find ourselves in a global Covid quarantine, one feels the urge to spend their hibernation watching Netflix. While they squander this precious opportunity that the universe has delivered, the ones with an inner calling are currently rewriting history.
If you’ve been thinking for 20 years that you wish you could start a business – lists, ideas, notes, scribes and scrawls yet no action to speak of – well, the universe has spoken. And it has never been more clear.
NOW IS THE TIME.
Right now is the most opportune time in history to start a business – if you have the right information. The high-performing industries are clearly defined, capital is more accessible than ever, and most of the competition has checked out.
In a world where everything else has been cancelled there’s never been a better time to learn. Get the foundations right with the Business Foundations course.
A forced imagination is upon us. And I, for one, am excited by what’s to come. What will you create?