Another 1.5 Billion people have gone into lockdown.

As of Wednesday last week, more than a third of the planet's population is under some form of restrictions.

Wow!

How should we act?

Calmly.

In the absence of knowledge, and being flooded by worsening news - many people respond by feeling fear and panic.

But rarely do people who are scared make wise decisions.

So what’s the antidote to fear?

Well according to John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman, the SAS expert who wrote the book on survival and trained the SAS for years on how to survive anywhere, the answer is simple:

Knowledge.

“The more we know the easier it is to survive. Knowledge dispels fear.”

He’s right.

The one thing the current crisis has taught everyone, from Presidents to Pensioners is that…

Life can change in a moment.

And when it changes in a big way, as it has recently, that natural response is to experience shock and disbelief.

We’re seeing it in the stock market, in our shops, in our leaders.

According to Navy Seal legend, Don Mann (author of Inside Seal Team Six and the U.S. Navy SEAL Survival Handbook) when people feel captive…

“Most individuals engage in “magical thinking” related to rescues. They imagine some miraculous rescue occurring and “it all being over.”

But when days turn into weeks or weeks to months, “some individuals become overwhelmed almost immediately and show little or no optimism regarding their survival options.”

That’s a dangerous mistake.

Soon this mindset triggers a “hopelessness” response and after that, many slip into a state of learned helplessness.

Exactly what you don’t want in a crisis.

As Mann’s experience training elite operators shows:

“Individuals who perceived they were helpless … ceased to cope.”

Thankfully we humans are a resilient and innovative bunch.

Within every crisis is a chance to not just survive but thrive when you have the right mindset and tools.

And as NLPers, we’ve got many tools to take command of our mind and acquire resources wherever we need them. We can quickly adapt and apply heuristics with ease.

Like this useful one…

Anytime you feel stressed or face a situation of high uncertainty, where the consequences of mis-step are significant…

S.T.O.P.

Get a grip on your state. Are you awfulizing? Bring your senses back to the present. Open your attention outwards

What’s your desired state? What’s your present state? What resources do you have? What resources do you need?

Take a deep breath and remember you’ve got through many things before. Say to yourself “I can figure out the next step. I am a resourceful person.”

Where are you in relation to your desired state?

Which conditions can you alter and which ones cannot be changed?

Are you facing any hard constraints on your actions?

Determine the direction you need to go, to get to where you want.

Put together your plan, organized into small doable actions.

You don’t need to plan every detail at once. To begin with focus on the first set of actions needed to get moving. Then execute them promptly.

As you get more information back from your environment, you can review and re-adjust your plans as you go.

And remember - when you face challenges or unexpected setbacks (and there will always be some) maintain realistic optimism, improvise and be resilient. Work the problem and ask yourself:

What is one thing I can do differently right now that could make this situation better?

By learning to S.T.O.P. you can not just survive, but thrive in challenging situations…

As always, the most important factor you can control is YOU.

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