Business Opportunities From COVID-19

With the COVID 19 pandemic now affecting the entire world, we need to be prepared for the upcoming changes that it will bring to those who don't get sick. This implies huge shifts in the way we work and how we make a living.  Unfortunately, with businesses being closed down, many people are going to be without pay or worse without jobs.

The good news is that there are other jobs that are going to be created in other industries and will most likely thrive throughout this crisis. Here are a few things to watch out for.

Remote work will finally become more widespread.
In order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, many companies around the world have either had to close their doors, or have made it mandatory for their employees to do their work from home.

Businesses will realize after a couple of months of this that they can trust their office-dwelling employees to be just as productive when working from home.  The existing technologies for video conferencing, IP telephony, IT security and cloud computing will allow employees to do that.  So it's very likely that most companies will end up wanting to save on real estate costs, commute times, and absenteeism by no longer limiting "work from home" to specific roles (sales, consultants, virtual assistants, web developers, IT support, podcasting, etc.).

What might be interesting here is that many more jobs will be created by large businesses who won't need to hire locally because the job can be done using the right technology.

The rise of Virtual Training / Learning

This kinda relates to the point above about remote work, but with the same technologies being used for leisure. With gyms, yoga and dance studios, martial arts schools and other activities with big groups of people being shut down temporarily, it won't be long before virtual classes rise in popularity. Sure some people can follow YouTube videos for instruction, but having an instructor who can see you and correct what you're doing in real time without the risk of catching a virus is the next best thing.

The same goes for other education. With schools and universities closed down, lectures and homework are now being made available online. Again, with the technologies now available, expect to see more and more flexible, web-based, academic programs.

While these virtual classes might not replace the real person training when these locations are finally allowed to re-open, they will make for great supplementary material and additional income streams later on.

Delivery services will become more streamlined
The risks of spreading viruses by going into crowded spaces to shop will create new jobs in delivery services. Whether it's groceries, restaurant food, toilet paper, soap, alcohol, cannabis, or any other necessity, the fact that most people will need to stay home will create an even greater demand for delivery services. Yes, companies like Amazon, Uber, FedEx, UPS and of course the post office already have massive networks to deliver to your door.

However, with demand rapidly increasing, other companies will invest and innovate to further improve these delivery methods making it much easier for customers to get something sent to their door. With summer coming, we should also expect more and more local niche entrepreneurs offering delivery services that can promise faster delivery times than the logistical behemoths.

Streaming Services and Podcasts

Entertainment is going to be incredibly important with people staying indoors. Whether it's bored kids or adults needing escapist entertainment from the doom and gloom news stories, we're going to need something to distract us.

Getting easy access to Internet-based entertainment is going to be crucial.  We've already seen huge jumps in subscription numbers for Netflix, Amazon Prime video and Disney plus.  YouTube had to reduce their video quality to save bandwidth, expecting a higher volume of streaming.

So if you're a vlogger, a podcaster, a YouTuber or any kind of web content creator, the opportunities to build an audience and eventually monetize is bigger than ever.

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I am very thankful for being one of the lucky ones who has the ability to work from home. Yes the current pandemic has caused the loss of plenty of jobs. Instability and uncertainty seem to be the norm.  Despite all the economic doom and gloom news, there are going to be new opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs to pivot.  It's going to be possible for many of us to thrive during a crisis and come out of it stronger than before.

How to Stay "Motivated"

Just to be clear I'm not a fan of "motivation" to help someone stick to whatever activity it is that they want to stick to.  Motivation can be OK to get you started but not really the best at getting you going when things get difficult.  Discipline and having an overall view of why you're doing something will always be better than looking at motivational quotes and videos on social media.

That said, for those who really want to stay "motivated", I would say that the best way is to constantly look for what you're not good at and finding ways to improve it.  Set an achievable goal and work on that weakness.

Let's take martial arts as an example.  If you think that you've gotten good at punches, make a goal to make your kicks better.  From that goal you can pick an aspect of kicking that you can improve.  You can try to improve your hip mobility and leg flexibility to kick higher; or maybe try to improve the speed of your kicks; or develop the reaction time to use your kicks as intercepting counter-attacks; or make the accuracy of your kicks better.

You get the idea.  The point is, be honest with yourself and find out what your weaknesses are. Then set a goal to improve on those weaknesses by breaking them up in smaller sub-goals.  Completing those smaller tasks will help you see that you're progressing and the pursuit of those "small wins" can be very helpful in keeping someone motivated.

Excellence Means You Can't Live a "Balanced Life"

In a previous post, I outlined the simple, 2-step formula to become good at anything:

1) Practice a lot
2) Put in a lot of conscious effort to what you're practicing

Here's a revised version of the formula, if you want to become THE BEST at anything:

1) Practice exponentially more than before
2) Practice with conscious effort and nearly singular focus

3) Be lucky

Assuming you have the luck required, you will also need to drastically increase the amount of practice you do.  Because of the increased amount of practice required, you'll have to sacrifice time for other things: social life, sleep, time with family, leisure activities, etc.  You are focused almost entirely on whatever it is you're trying to be the best at.

This is true no matter what profession or field you want to become the best at.  Whether you want to become the most renowned neurosurgeon, the funniest stand-up comedian, an Olympic gold medalist, the most successful CEO, an elite professional hockey player, the most published and cited academic, or a world-champion MMA fighter, you will have terrible "work-life balance".  You'll need to sacrifice a lot of time not only to reach the pinnacle of your field but also to stay at the elite level.

This goes beyond the level of a hobby. You can't clock out at 5pm. Having the goal of being the best at something for a certain amount of time will come at the expense of other things in your life. If the concept of "work-life balance" is important to you, you will never become part of the elite in your field.  The truth is, at one point or another, we all wanted to be excellent something.  Becoming excellent requires an unbalanced lifestyle. For most of us, living that way for a long time is unsustainable.

Your New Year's Resolutions Suck and You'll Never Keep Them

It's January 1st again. So we're going to hear our friends and loved-ones make resolutions. We're going to see the social media "motivational" posts talking about their resolutions.  We've heard it all before (or read it on our friends' social media):

This year, I resolve to:

• lose weight
• be more positive
• make 'self-care' a priority
• save more money
• make more money
• cut out 'toxic' people
• eat more healthy
• drink less alcohol
• drink more water
• exercise more
• be more fit

There's nothing wrong with setting goals.  I admire and respect people who take the steps required to better themselves and their lives. The problem with resolutions is that most are not SMART.

They're not specific and extremely vague.  Success and progress are difficult to measure because most people don't give themselves the proper steps to take to get their goals.  Most resolutions makers can be so overly enthusiastic and motivated that the goals they set for themselves aren't achievable and realistic. Even if you measure your progress, you realize that you can't reach your lofty goal and you end up getting discouraged.

Of course, most people making resolutions don't give themselves a proper time frame to achieve and succeed. Meaning that because they don't give themselves deadlines, they end up simply meandering instead of achieving what they set out to do.

Aside from the quality of the resolutions, if you really thought that whatever you're resolving to do was important, you wouldn't be waiting for an arbitrary day of the year to start doing it.  You'd be working on that goal right now.  You would have made it a priority already and adjusted your habits accordingly.  You already would have been looking for ways to stay focused and disciplined to achieve your goals. You wouldn't be relying on "motivational" pictures and videos while going on social media to tell everyone that "New year, new me" will so totally happen in 2020.