Keep Calm and Carry On
This wonderfully sensible motto caught my eye through one of those “Disaster Movies sponsored by…” trailers and I rather like it. Created in 1939 by the British government, with over 2 million posters printed and ready for distribution in the event of invasion, to remind the British to do just that - Keep Calm and Carry On – thankfully they were not necessary. The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and the design and slogan has recently become popular; with the financial mess and in the recent weather conditions across the UK it feels quite relevant.
Keep Calm and Carry On poster (1939) courtesy of Wikipedia
On top of the recession, the recovery from which seems still to be a vague light at the end of a tunnel (and do we yet know where that tunnel is?), to this month have severe winter weather further affect businesses across the country is causing a sense of almost despair. Small businesses with staff and fixed overheads are struggling as it is, still having to pay those expenses while any buying, and the country, grinds to a full stop.
The only thing to do is indeed to keep calm and carry on – roll up our sleeves and do what we are able to get done at this time, or if there’s nothing that can be done, enjoy the enforced time off and spend time with those around us, help someone else close by that perhaps needs a kindness; I cannot imagine that panicking is ever helpful. For most of us there are surely marketing preparations that can be worked on, strategies considered, something that will be useful for the business.
Thankfully the Internet didn’t let me down, though having the kids home from school and staff unable to get here hindered efforts somewhat. I’ve a few clients now delayed and they’re not impressed, but I’m managing my urge to get in a tizz about that because I cannot suddenly create extra hours – I just have to get on with it. When I start to panic I tend to slow down and get less done than if I simply got on with the next task on the list.
Some clients and colleagues made the most of the time to consider the latest Internet wonders and how they could make use of them for their business – they will surely only survive the recession with a healthy business.
In all aspects of our lives, sometimes the most useful and positive thing to do is to keep doing the normal stuff; flapping about doesn’t help. This may well sound trite, but sometimes that’s what works – keeping our heads down and getting on with the stuff that needs doing, without panicking about what we cannot get done.
So that’s really what I wanted to encourage and chat about here – whatever is going on with life – and there will often be some crisis or other to contend with – try to consider what difference your flapping about and panicking will have on the situation in a month, a year, ten years – and make yourself a cup of tea, take a little time to just stop and gather yourself, and then carry on. We might even consider how our own crises compare to disasters around the world – let’s face it, there are few things that can compare to what people in Haiti are having to contend with right now.
About BabsBabs runs The Blogmistress to help people use WordPress for their websites and/or blogs. Here on Birds however she lets loose on just about any subject other than WordPress! Follow her on twitter
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29 Responses to Keep Calm and Carry On
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Some very wise words there Babs!
For many of us who are self-employed I think the greatest saving grace through the recent freeze-up has been the internet. I do nearly 100 percent of my work without leaving my home office at all times, but it’s at a time like this that I was especially grateful for the www.
Not only has the internet enabled many businesses and other activities to “keep calm and carry on” when otherwise they would have been crippled, but also – on an environmental level – it is a very much greener way to work, snow and recession or not.
Sz
Twitter: SuzanStMaur
Thanks Suzan
And indeed there is much to be said, on many levels, for working from home. The tricky bit then is knowing when to switch off, where to put everything, and how to handle interruptions. I think I’ll just about get it right when I’m ready to retire! For now I’m making my home office as mobile as I can so that I can work on the laptop in any room when the children are underfoot
But there’s a whole other blog post, or series perhaps…
Twitter: babssaul
Some very wise words there Babs!
For many of us who are self-employed I think the greatest saving grace through the recent freeze-up has been the internet. I do nearly 100 percent of my work without leaving my home office at all times, but it’s at a time like this that I was especially grateful for the www.
Not only has the internet enabled many businesses and other activities to “keep calm and carry on” when otherwise they would have been crippled, but also – on an environmental level – it is a very much greener way to work, snow and recession or not.
Sz
Twitter: SuzanStMaur
Thanks Suzan
And indeed there is much to be said, on many levels, for working from home. The tricky bit then is knowing when to switch off, where to put everything, and how to handle interruptions. I think I’ll just about get it right when I’m ready to retire! For now I’m making my home office as mobile as I can so that I can work on the laptop in any room when the children are underfoot
But there’s a whole other blog post, or series perhaps…
Twitter: babssaul
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Very sensible advice, Babs.
I know what you mean about it sounding trite, but the thing is, we do need to remind ourselves and each other of these most basic things from time to time.
Certainly, as you say, the problems in Haiti puts our own troubles with the economy and the weather into perspective.
When I was younger I used to think that one day, when I was sorted out and knew what I was doing, that life would run smoothly most of the time, although there might be occasional crises.
Now I’m more inclined to think that life has always been and will always be a series of crises, and that all that we can do is manage them as best we can.
Which makes Keep Calm and Carry On the perfect motto to live by
And thanks to you, Ann, I’ll be making a cross-stitch sampler with this motto – it may take me a few years to finish, so have ordered the poster in the meantime!
As for life running smoothly, perhaps that happens if we ever stop growing. And I’ve no intention of that, so… Then of course there are other people’s crises to handle, sometimes – though then it can be easier to “keep calm” and that can help them to do the same.
Twitter: babssaul
Very sensible advice, Babs.
I know what you mean about it sounding trite, but the thing is, we do need to remind ourselves and each other of these most basic things from time to time.
Certainly, as you say, the problems in Haiti puts our own troubles with the economy and the weather into perspective.
When I was younger I used to think that one day, when I was sorted out and knew what I was doing, that life would run smoothly most of the time, although there might be occasional crises.
Now I’m more inclined to think that life has always been and will always be a series of crises, and that all that we can do is manage them as best we can.
Which makes Keep Calm and Carry On the perfect motto to live by
And thanks to you, Ann, I’ll be making a cross-stitch sampler with this motto – it may take me a few years to finish, so have ordered the poster in the meantime!
As for life running smoothly, perhaps that happens if we ever stop growing. And I’ve no intention of that, so… Then of course there are other people’s crises to handle, sometimes – though then it can be easier to “keep calm” and that can help them to do the same.
Twitter: babssaul
Couldn’t agree more! In fact, my own latest blog post is about this very thing and my number one tip starts with the words “Keep calm!” I wasn’t aware of the poster but it’s marvellous!
Am I allowed to put my blog here?
http://www.virtualbalance.co.uk/blog
I don’t see why not, Ruth – that’s a good blog post – thanks for your comment here too.
I’m tempted to buy the mugs for everyone as birthday presents this year – wonder if I could get a quantity discount
Twitter: babssaul
My husband was watching the Parliament channel earlier (you can see why I spend my time on the internet!) and I happened to see that a government Minister was talking about these “Keep calm” posters. Could be the next trend!
Couldn’t agree more! In fact, my own latest blog post is about this very thing and my number one tip starts with the words “Keep calm!” I wasn’t aware of the poster but it’s marvellous!
Am I allowed to put my blog here?
http://www.virtualbalance.co.uk/blog
I don’t see why not, Ruth – that’s a good blog post – thanks for your comment here too.
I’m tempted to buy the mugs for everyone as birthday presents this year – wonder if I could get a quantity discount
Twitter: babssaul
My husband was watching the Parliament channel earlier (you can see why I spend my time on the internet!) and I happened to see that a government Minister was talking about these “Keep calm” posters. Could be the next trend!
Couldn’t agree more – and often something positive comes out of these situations.
Downtime gives us the opportunity to think and to plan; and that’s a rarity in the usual scheme of things as there is often little time left after dealing with the daily requirements of running a business. So it helps for me to regard it as much an opportunity as anything.
And you so right about the kindnesses to others.
Twitter: mykitchenstore
Couldn’t agree more – and often something positive comes out of these situations.
Downtime gives us the opportunity to think and to plan; and that’s a rarity in the usual scheme of things as there is often little time left after dealing with the daily requirements of running a business. So it helps for me to regard it as much an opportunity as anything.
And you so right about the kindnesses to others.
Twitter: mykitchenstore
Nice post, and look forward to seeing Keep Calm and Carry On continue to be the motto for 2010 as we try to come out of the recession and deal with more global catastrophes.
I usually keep an eye on everywhere that the phrase appears, but have been a bit slack for a couple of months – thought the interest was dying off, but the current relevancy will be in Time Magazine at some point soon…
I love your T shirt
Nice post, and look forward to seeing Keep Calm and Carry On continue to be the motto for 2010 as we try to come out of the recession and deal with more global catastrophes.
I usually keep an eye on everywhere that the phrase appears, but have been a bit slack for a couple of months – thought the interest was dying off, but the current relevancy will be in Time Magazine at some point soon…
I love your T shirt
I loved this post Babs, it reminded me of my dad’s mother (she died some years ago), and as a child when we got our knickers in a twist she would smile wryly and say … “keep calm and carry on”.
When the recession hit a lot of transport businesses in 2008 (when a lot of people where still in denial it was happening) we took the chance to revamp our marketing and moved from offline traditional to online marketing. It gave us a 2 year head start on our competition!
I really enjoyed reading this
I loved this post Babs, it reminded me of my dad’s mother (she died some years ago), and as a child when we got our knickers in a twist she would smile wryly and say … “keep calm and carry on”.
When the recession hit a lot of transport businesses in 2008 (when a lot of people where still in denial it was happening) we took the chance to revamp our marketing and moved from offline traditional to online marketing. It gave us a 2 year head start on our competition!
I really enjoyed reading this
Love it, Babs.
Over here, when things get messy or clients start panicking about something, I recall the words of Rudyard Kipling’s magnificent poem, “If”. It keeps my feet on the ground and reminds me of the British stoicism under pressure.
‘Play up, play up and play the game’ could well be the ancient version of ‘keep calm and carry on’ regardless.
Twitter: maverickny
Love it, Babs.
Over here, when things get messy or clients start panicking about something, I recall the words of Rudyard Kipling’s magnificent poem, “If”. It keeps my feet on the ground and reminds me of the British stoicism under pressure.
‘Play up, play up and play the game’ could well be the ancient version of ‘keep calm and carry on’ regardless.
Twitter: maverickny
Love the ideas here: my daughter has the poster on her wall….
Interestingly, one of the ways we use to help clients overcome there fear of presenting is to ask them questions such as how they think they’ll feel about the presentation in six months, five years, 20 years and so on… very much “keep calm and carry on”
Simon
Twitter: presentations
Love the ideas here: my daughter has the poster on her wall….
Interestingly, one of the ways we use to help clients overcome there fear of presenting is to ask them questions such as how they think they’ll feel about the presentation in six months, five years, 20 years and so on… very much “keep calm and carry on”
Simon
Twitter: presentations
Hi Babs
I love this – in principle – yet if I’m panicking, feel mad, or ‘the world’s against me’ and “it’s not fair” I find it can be quite cathartic to have a good old rant and rail (preferably on my own with nobody to witness it) and get all the emotion out first .
Then I can take a few deep breaths, maybe do a few minutes exercise and the calmness, for me, kicks in more for real.
I can look a bit more creatively about what I’m doing and whether I’m getting the best results in the circumstances. And sometimes I get an off-the-wall idea about how I could do something differently and test it out. Others I just think “ah, go with the flow…”
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
Hi Babs
I love this – in principle – yet if I’m panicking, feel mad, or ‘the world’s against me’ and “it’s not fair” I find it can be quite cathartic to have a good old rant and rail (preferably on my own with nobody to witness it) and get all the emotion out first .
Then I can take a few deep breaths, maybe do a few minutes exercise and the calmness, for me, kicks in more for real.
I can look a bit more creatively about what I’m doing and whether I’m getting the best results in the circumstances. And sometimes I get an off-the-wall idea about how I could do something differently and test it out. Others I just think “ah, go with the flow…”
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks