This quarantine has brought with it a big global economic crisis. This one is deadly in that no one is safe and we see how everyone has been adhering to the rules because they know what’s at stake. This crippled the economy in a sudden rush no one saw coming. People are losing their jobs and the suffering is apparent everywhere. In a way, we are way luckier than our parents because our suffering involves staying isolated not raging wars. This crisis doesn’t feel like anything new to me as the cyclic oil and gas industry had already given me a dose of its instability 4 years ago. It was exactly this time 4 years when I got laid off from my first post-grad engineering job and devastating, to say the least.
With my job also came a big loss of self-esteem since I attached so much of my identity to my job. I felt lost and confused. That shift in time was both very scary and exciting. I am making a new plan for my life and figuring things out. I spent a lot of time with my family, friends, and focusing on my next endeavour. It was healing time and I think is what we are all going through together. I had to adapt and act quickly so I pushed myself to try different things. I studied for the GMAT exam, I moved to a different city and learned a new language then I moved to another continent to do my MBA. This opened my world and changed my life in ways I didn’t imagine possible. I had amazing experiences and learned so so much about life and myself.
I started dreaming of bigger things and working harder. It was the hardest thing that I have personally gone through in my adult life and now I look back at it with so much gratitude. It was the push I needed to change my life and create my happiness. Maybe this could be the time for all of us to work on those passion projects we have been putting off.
It is no secret that millennials and generation Z’ers prefer remote working with the internet opening a world of new opportunities to us. We have more flexibility in our working styles than ever before. If we are determined, we can make anything work for us. Freelance projects, more marketing tools, and a wider audience are all available to us.
And maybe nothing will be the same after corona, now we are all forced into telecommunicating. No industry and no age limitations on who is experiencing this. Maybe this will force even the most stubborn of old fashioned way of thinking to become more flexible. I see the freelance economy becoming even bigger so what a better time than now to start that business you always wanted to try ;)
I found myself feeling the way as the last time since I have recently graduated from the MBA and the search for employment during the time of corona will not be easy. This feeling of panic and crisis made me start to question everything. Was I living a life I wanted? Is the career I want? Am I happy? Questions started haunting me day and night. Then slowly it turned into an opportunity to do what I always wanted.
