For those of you in rich countries (the UK, USA) the COVID-19 pandemic is entering its final stages. For those of you in less fortunate countries (Jamaica), there is at least another mountain to climb before the downside begins. For all, the post COVID-19 era is going to be very challenging. The economic fallout has yet to begin. Our economies have been dealt a heavy blow, heavier in my opinion than should have been allowed. This is important because we have dealt a serious blow to our already inadequate resilience, which means the next crisis will find us all weaker and so more vulnerable.
Young or old, you have to prepare for a period of crises of increasing magnitude and frequency that will last at least the lifetimes of anyone alive today. There are many reasons why this is so that I will not take the time to address here, but look back over the crises of the first two decades of this century and imagine an exponential increase in frequency and severity.
Your job is to make sure your personal resilience is all it can be and that you will be an asset to any group you wish to join. There are four skills which at a minimum you will need to master and one checklist which may be of most value to those of you who will still have to battle COVID-19 in places where the healthcare system may have collapsed.
Four Skills:
Build your Personal Brand: You may think that a personal brand is something that the Sussexes and Piers Morgan have, but not ordinary people like you. You would be wrong. Everyone in the modern age has a personal brand. Jeff Bezos has defined your brand as what people say about you when you are out of the room. Like it or not you have one. The only question is: What will your brand be? It does not matter whether you are self-employed or in an organisation. You need to make an impression that advances your interests and maintains your authenticity. You have to be real, or eventually you will be found out and possibly hurt. You have to be consistent across personal relationships, professional relationships, and Social Media.
Read more about building your personal brand here.
Always have a Marketable Skill: I am a public speaker. I have combined a talent for talking and the unique experiences of my life into a skill that I have used from time to time to generate income when needed. I know many professional speakers who make a good living from only speaking, and I probably could do the same, but that would prevent me from other pursuits. So I keep it in my back pocket, keep the fires smouldering, and reach for it as necessary. Everyone can have one. Look for something that you have a talent for, and do not be afraid to use your hands. Learn a craft. Carpentry, painting homes, computer repairs, et cetera. If you are athletically inclined, then a sport that appeals to elites (golf, tennis) will always have a market for a coach or playing companion. Get a skill that is in demand and can be easily activated. This should be different from your side hustle; it is to fall back on in case of emergency (like when your side hustle fails).
Understand Artificial Intelligence and Coding: AI is everywhere. You have to understand how it works. I don’t mean you need to become an AI engineer, though that is not a bad choice if you have the talent, but you need to understand how it works so that you can better manage it. Everything from job applications, applying for benefits, or applying for loans is now controlled at some level by an AI who decides who goes and who stays. Understanding how they work will help you when you encounter them. Similarly, coding underpins almost everything we do now (including AI) and you need to understand how code is written, tested, and deployed. Use a service that provides quality online courses, many for free, like Coursera
Make yourself look larger with Apps: An upside to coding and AI is a growth in the number of Apps available. Apps usually come in free and paid versions, and when properly used make us seem like a big business.
Google Docs – A comprehensive productivity software. It comes free with a Google account, and can be upgraded to the paid Google Business.
Zapier – A task automation app.
YAMM – A Gmail mail merge tool.
OBS screen recorder – Live streaming and screen-recording software.
Dropbox – Cloud storage that can be accessed from multiple devices or shared to others.
Evernote – A digital notebook that can capture information from multiple sources, collate, store, and find.
WeTransfer – Allows for the transfer of large files.
Mighty Text – Control SMS and MMS from your computer, for Android phones only.
ZOOM – Enough said.
PassPack – A centralised password keeper.
Trello – A task manager with collaboration features.
MindMaster – A tool for mind mapping.
Nord VPN – A VPN tool to use public WiFi hotspots or the general internet in safety.
Slack – A business-centric tool for internal communication.
WhatsApp Business ‒ Business focused version of WhatsApp messaging App.
What to do if you suspect you have caught COVID-19: It will be impossible to use any of your new skills if you are dead. While this pandemic may be winding down in the developed world, in many parts of the less developed world this is not the case. Jamaica is an example of a country going in the wrong direction for infection rates and deaths. No vaccine cavalry here. Below are some Simple, Inexpensive, Effective, and Sustainable steps to take if you suspect you have caught COVID-19. Seek medical help if you can, but these immediate steps can make all the difference.
Vitamin C – Find your bowel tolerance and stay near it.
Vitamin D – Take 10,000 IU immediately, and 5,000 IU daily thereafter.
Spend at least 20 minutes a day in sunlight with your skin exposed, if you are able.
Hot towels – Raise your body temperature to 100 degrees, have cool towels available to lower temperature if it rises too much.
Get plenty of rest.
There is always opportunity in crisis. The modern world provides all sorts of possibilities to build streams of income that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago. The internet has many faults, but it has one great strength: it is another innovation which is a great equaliser, just as the Colt .45 revolver in 1835 and the Maxim machine gun of 1884, or the printing press in 1440. These inventions had in common a great levelling up, as natural advantages were negated by technology. Women won the right to vote in the state of Wyoming in the United States of America in 1869, 4 years after the end of the Civil War. As a frontier state, women in Wyoming had the same rights to carry a firearm as men, and the prevailing insecurity ensured that many of them did. Many factors contributed to them winning and maintaining the right to vote, but I have to think that having a Colt .45 to hand could not have hurt. Suffrage for women nationwide did not happen until 1920. Today, if you are disadvantaged, for whatever reason, regardless of ethnicity or location, the internet is your gateway to equality. Use it. See here for the story of how a young man, recently unemployed, beat the best brains backed by the most money in a game created by the present pandemic, all from his parents' living room. You too have this opportunity, use it.
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