So here we are in the midst of lockdown from the dreaded Covid-19 virus. And whilst many employees are preparing for the Easter weekend and have spent time away from their places of work, catching up with DIY or gardening or binge-watching Netflix, I’m strangely finding myself doing quite the opposite.
Since 2012 I’ve been working from home, earning a modest income from my computer business, whilst dabbling in a number of passive income opportunities. But it’s taken this once in a lifetime event for me to really take stock and ask myself some searching questions like:
- Where am I going with my business?
- How can I come out of this situation stronger than when I went in?
- Who is really going to need help after this lockdown and how can I offer them a solution?
You see I believe that every event, good or bad, creates opportunities; and there has never been a better opportunity for people to reflect on their mortality and what they are doing with their lives. Right now, a staggering number of people are losing their jobs. In fact, only today, it’s been reported that in the past 3 weeks in the US alone there have been 6.6 million new applications for unemployment benefit.
And then there are those people who have been lucky enough so far to keep their jobs but may now be working from home, and also those who have been ‘furloughed’… in other words they have been asked to stop working, but have not been made redundant.
For all these people this might be the first time ever that they have really had the time to ask themselves if, once this is all over, they will really want to to go back to doing what they were doing before.
So where are you in this current situation? Are you of employable age and, like me, in lockdown contemplating your future; or perhaps you are a key worker – run off your feet right now doing the work of several other people who may be in isolation. Let me know in the comments.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed from what’s happening right now it’s how much the the majority of people are appreciating the roles of these key workers; the people who are currently holding up the rest of us by continuing to work to provide essential services – such as health care, pharmacy, supply chains, teaching, postal services, shopping essentials, refuse collection and many other services we usually take for granted – despite the obvious risk to their health.
Without these services we would truly not get through this current situation, and yet the people we’re currently relying on are some of the lowest paid in our Society. So if you are a key worker reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your selfless help and dedication.
If I could offer one piece of advice during this testing time it would be this; if you find yourself with time on your hands, use it wisely. Reflect on what you want to do with your life when this is all over; study, retrain, start a side-hustle; just aim to somehow come out of this situation stronger than you went in.
I’ll see you on the other side.
