There’s no doubt about it. COVID-19 has been a life-changing experience for everyone around the planet.

You may have been directly affected by the dreadful loss of a loved one, in which case I offer my sympathy. Or perhaps you have succumbed to the virus, or like many around the world, you may have lost your job. One thing we can be sure of – life will never be the same again.

These life-changing times really make you think don’t they? Perhaps you’re thinking about your future job or income, or maybe about when it’s safe for your children to go back to school. Or even when it’s safe to start socialising again. There’s a lot to think about but if there’s one positive thing to come out of this situation, it has given us the time and space to think about how we see ourselves in the future.

Adapting to Change

There will always be individuals and businesses who do well in catastrophes. That’s because they adapt to change – something I believe we all need to do. This has been a wake-up call for everyone to think about how we will live and work in a world which, when all this is over, will have changed in so many ways.

I believe that many more businesses will start operating online and their success will come down to how much they invest in themselves.

Now is the time to take stock of where you are currently at and look at where you need to be going forward. Ask yourself:

• What skills do I have? Make a list of all your skills and when you can’t think of any more, just keep going. You will always come up with more. Often there are skills we take for granted or don’t even see as skills so if there is something you are good at, add it to the list.
• What skills do I need to learn? Do you have digital marketing or social media skills? How are other people currently getting their messages across?
• Do I have a product or service I could offer online? Or is there a product or service you could learn more about and then market it online?
• Who would be my target audience? Would it be people like you with the same interests, age, gender?
• Where can I go to learn these new skills? There are many providers who offer online marketing skills, with some offering get-rich-quick opportunities and promises of huge gains, so it pays to do your research.

I have grown so much through learning a range of new online and marketing skills and I urge you to really think about this if you are wanting to adapt to our changing world.

Stay well.