My eyes welled up with tears, unexpectedly, last night when I saw the faces of the roughly 500 people, across six continents, who were joining me for my live webinar on “PEAK Adaptability.” See, I had read their pre-session survey results, and people reported that, on average, for 91% of their days they suffered a meaningful dose of stress, anxiety, hardship…adversity.  This is a new, COVID-19 induced reality.

Their lists of personal and professional struggles were heart-wrenching. So many felt helplessly adrift, in a tsunami of uncertainty. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through these decades of research and working so closely with more than a million lives, it’s that, the crazier it gets “out there” the clearer and stronger we need to be “in here.”

In other words, it’s time for The Real Deal. It’s time to re-clarify, re-commit, re-focus our energies on efforts on fulfilling our, and most importantly helping those around us—our loved ones, our teams, our organizations—to fulfill their Real Deal.

Five cards. Five clarion priorities. Five unshakeable values. One Deal Breaker. One draw-the-line irrefutable “No!” and five worthy-of-sacrifice Yesses. Leadership begins with Self. What better way to lead, inspire, connect, energize, and align those around us than by doing, deciding, committing, and honoring each other’s Real Deal?

I’m going to revisit mine, with me, my family, my PEAK Team, key clients, and beyond. It’s the least I can do, to help people get firm traction and resilient strength in such uncertain times.