Are you ready for change?

It is not an overstatement to say COVID-19 has upended our lives in a profound way. Overnight, it has changed how we work, learn, worship, interact with family, friends, and the larger community.  The personal touch that we took for granted has become virtual. It is unsettling to learn/experience the COVID-19 health impacts, travel disruptions, job losses, and families not able to connect with each other.

In times like these, we turn towards our family and friends to find comfort, support, and strength.  One positive consequence of COVID-19 is the amount of time we have been able to spend with our families. We are spending more time at the dinner table, playing games, cooking, gardening, etc. We are also getting more active with walking and riding bikes while adhering to new social norms.  

While the increased family time has been a blessing, we are also dealing with major disruptive changes in our professional lives. Many have shut down their businesses, lost jobs, been furloughed, or seen pay cuts. For those fortunate to still have jobs, they are learning to work from home, simultaneously managing their house, kids, and pets. For those who are struck in a dead-end job, they must endure more of the same for even longer. While it is difficult to predict the duration of the impact, many experts think a robust recovery will be underway by the fourth quarter of 2020. Let us hope the recovery comes soon.

Given the unprecedented nature of this crisis and our response, it is not certain if jobs will come back to pre-crisis status. Many companies have successfully demonstrated that they could conduct business with people working remotely. Many high paying jobs in urban cities could come back in less expensive locations as remote jobs. Many city businesses that rely on large concentration of working people will be impacted. On the plus side, this may spur more construction for houses, businesses, roads, schools, and other infrastructure in low cost locations. We could also see major innovations happening in education with remote learning. While restaurants may not come back strongly, new opportunities with curated food packages that make the home cooking experience more pleasurable, while improving personal health may see growth.

As old jobs diminish, newer jobs will emerge. As someone once said, “never waste a good crisis”, let’s see the challenges posed by this crisis as a catalyst to transform us to seize the opportunities of the future. You do not have to be alone to go through this transformation. You can use Goalore to collaborate with your friends to prepare for the new opportunities.  Goalore is a free platform where members can manage goals, form alliances with friends to achieve large goals. Join Goalore to start your transformation journey today.