Billionaires and philanthropists, Bill Gates advises everyone to get through 2020 safely and so that the Covid-19 pandemic can pass soon.
The reason is, this pandemic has hit the income of most people and disrupted the global economic order.
Over the past seven months, we have seen a global pandemic, recession, millions of people losing their jobs, and thousands of businesses closed – many of them permanently.
According to Gates, it’s very easy, especially in times like these, to fall victim to the idea that we can’t control the world around us. As a result, there is little need to feel that we have little influence over our own future.
Except, usually that’s not true. The most remarkable thing is that it is often not difficult to turn things around if we know where to start.
In an interview with the Politicos Playbook on October 13, Bill Gates reminded us of that simple fact, and that’s just the message we need to hear this year.
Disciplining behavior
Gates’specifically speaks of a pandemic – which is important – but the points he makes go far beyond Covid-19.
Gates pointed out that because a vaccine is likely not going to be widely available until next year, “all we have is our behavior,” Gates said as reported by Inc.com, Monday (26/10).
Specifically, what Gates means is behavior that includes social distancing. and wearing a mask. “All we have is our behavior,” said Gates.
It’s a pretty strong reminder that goes against our natural tendency to try and improve our circumstances, not ourselves.
It is much easier to blame external factors for the situation we are in. Especially when it seems to be almost completely out of our control for most of the past seven months.
“However, changing our situation can be as simple as changing the way we interact,” explained Gates.
Gates suggested that if we were all willing to change our own behavior, just a little. And hopefully for a short time, the world around us could return to “normal” more quickly.
Changing the way we interact and behave
Ironically, almost everyone agrees that the best outcome we can look forward to is everyone back to work, students back to school, businesses reopening, restaurants and shopping malls full of people, and families eating together this holiday season.
The problem is that none of this will happen until we can truly control the pandemic.
Gates also underlined that wearing a mask is really a pretty small “price” during Covid-19. Compared especially to the loss of productivity and normalcy we all experience. Because people won’t give up the slightest bit of pride that goes into wearing masks when we go out in public.
The message is very simple – we need to change how we interact, and how we behave. If we do that, we can change the course of our circumstances. Because in the end, is the goal we all want.
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