Staying Positive in Hard Times (& Our Online Event)

What is Mike Michelini Up To Now – May 16 – 22, 2021

Listen as audio here [2 minutes long] (or scroll down for text)

Download .mp3 here

I got a call last night (Saturday, May 15, 2021) at 10pm. I was asleep but didn’t turn off the phone. It was the health department. There is a new outbreak of COVID and we need to go in for testing.

When will this end?

The whole world is still dealing with this nightmare. Our team in the Philippines is now dealing with it too.

This lines up with our Friday event, the Cross Border Matchmaker – our first larger online event for the Global From Asia community. We need to TRY TO KEEP EVERYONE thinking positive and having fun.
Sure, there will be some learning but we need to make it more interactive and more engaging. No ppt, just panels and round tables, adding in some music and art and auctions and giveaways.

We’re doing this as all of us are just so depressed and lonely and no one is talking about it.

So this week, the focus is CHEER UP – myself, the team, the community, and whomever else is up for it. This Friday night (Asia time) is the first FREE event ticket option we have done for GFA with many other first time things as well.

For those who want to hear the full week plan for Shadstone Limited, Mike’s company (removing sensitive info) – here it is:

Week Plan May 16-22, 2021 Shadstone Limited

We are pushing our limits – me at least and I hope others here are too. This is how we develop and learn (in my opinion).

I know the world is dealing with new waves and outbreaks of Covid, and I know some in our team are dealing with it in different ways. Please let us know how things are going with your situation. Stay safe, use masks and my main one is – wash your hands ALL THE TIME. I am like a germophobe now. I wash my hands so much like every time I touch something. The reason is, you touch something THEN you touch your mouth / nose / eye and that is when it enters your body. And I’m trying to just not touch my eye/mouth/nose naturally now. I believe this is how it normally is transmitted.

Also, our city in Shenyang is on warning again. I got a call Saturday night 10pm that there is a new outbreak and I need to go in for tests this week.

So we just all need to stay strong and adjust to this new normal and try to keep our spirits high.

Last week, we finished the second Flamingo Handshake auction and it was a success. Although we do need to work on getting new people into the auctions / community. There are more and more initiatives for that. And, some on the Shadstone team are now becoming part of the Handshake ambassador program which is exciting (If you’re interested and didn’t hear about this let me or others on management know)

And, we are further combining / bridging our GFA members and community with our team. It is feeling good (although I have to admit a little scary for me to be so transparent) to see our team members and the community members coordinating directly. Let’s keep making amazing things happen.

BIG PUSH – this Friday night (Asia time) is our first ONLINE Cross Border Matchmaker. Let’s use this to transition to this “new normal”.

Like earlier in this message, SO MANY of us (myself included) are not saying it publicly but they are sad, lonely, depressed.

So while CBM is an online event to learn and network, WE NEED TO ALSO HAVE FUN WITH IT! To make it more social, to add in some art and music into it. To laugh in it – to showcase the members, the stories, the tips and ways we have all been adjusting.

So I encourage all of us try to think positive (myself included). These hardships we are all going through will be in history forever. We will look back on these dark days and hopefully be in a much stronger position.

So, let’s keep adjusting to this, we are trying our best as a team and company to readjust our business model (more online events, more online style business services) and it is seeming to work.

So this week’s big step is moving the GFA community to be more online – as many are offline based – waiting for offline events, etc. Now, is the time to re-adjust that.