From Chaos to Clarity: How to Build Resilience When Tariffs, Disasters, and Change Upend Your Plans

At some point we face uncertainty. Something happens, our situation changes suddenly, and a wrench is thrown in our plans. This can happen in any area of life where something unexpected happens such as health issues, family issues, unexpected expenses, loss of income, a natural disaster, etc. We may feel stressed, scared, lost, disoriented, and more. Currently, some businesses are facing uncertainty about the future and are concerned about the effects to their revenue, profit, and survival due to tariffs between the US and other countries. There is uncertainty about how much the tariffs will be, whether the amount will change, be paused, or cancelled. Something similar happened with COVID where there was uncertainty about what would happen. Eventually, tariffs and trade agreements will be negotiated, and there will be certainty for a while, regardless of whether we like details of the outcome or not. 

The uncertainty has people feeling stressed about their business, their job security, and the future. Those who have already been laid off from their jobs are experiencing uncertainty about their financial situation and career.

As humans, we tend to like stability. We’re okay with change and some of us embrace change. The issue is the speed of change. We tend to prefer a gentle or gradual change instead of a rapid change that can suddenly turn our lives upside down. Since external circumstances that we have no control over, such as tariffs, pandemics, the economy, wars, natural disasters, customer preferences, etc., what can we do? We can create some level of certainty for ourselves.

The components that we can control in order to create some level of certainty for ourselves are direction, goals, planning, and actions. We can set a direction for our business or career, set goals and milestones, create an action plan, and then focus on executing the actions. It takes commitment and reminding ourselves to focus on our direction, vision, and what we can control. The other critical component is adaptability. Like any plan, it rarely goes perfectly so we need to adapt and adjust our plan as we go along.

When the external circumstances could have multiple outcomes such as tariffs increasing or being eliminated, we need to plan for multiple scenarios in order to create a level of certainty for ourselves. Plan A could be for tariffs being implemented for the long-term. Plan B could be for tariffs being eliminated. Plan C could be for repositioning your business or career so that tariffs have minimal to no impact for you. When you plan for different possible outcomes, you will know what to do depending on how the circumstances unfold.

Since we are in the middle of tariff and trade negotiations, it can be challenging to keep things running while creating a plan for multiple possible outcomes. Do your best. Once the dust has settled, look forward and create the contingency plans before something unexpected happens such as threats of tariffs. This way, you will be prepared in case of an emergency or a change in the marketplace. You will be ready to execute when you need to. Your business and career will be more resilient. It’s like knowing the escape route in case of a fire in your building so that you can get to safety and hopefully, you won’t need to use it, but you will be prepared.