The word “unprecedented” is probably over-used in the current climate. As individuals, we will always face changes and we have to adapt to the new norm.
Charles Darwin said:
It is not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change
Some of the key phases in mankind evolution and examples of adaptation:
- Mass extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago. However, some mammals, birds, small reptiles and species survived.
- 1st Industrial revolution in the 18th century through the use of steam power and mechanisation of production. Humans and goods could move further in shorter time.
- Current situation – the COVID19 pandemic hastened the Industrial 4.0 into a few months. Digitalisation, e-business, technology, big data, AI etc become a necessity rather than nice to have.
The key is to embrace change and find opportunities what we can adapt and grow in the evolution phase.
Nobody likes to be surprised by changes that affect their lives. Every day, there are news on companies which fail to adapt and cope with the current downturn, eventually having to retrench their workers. Some recent examples of how retrenched workers adapted to changes:
- Design Director becoming a food delivery rider
- Sales Manager retrenched at 62 and becoming a Grab driver
- Pregnant Sales Manager retrenched at 29 but did not give up and found a job
My personal journey
- I was retrenched at the age of 43. I could have felt down and useless. But I decided to turn that into motivation and positivity to use the down time to acquire new skills. I utilised my Skillsfuture credits and embarked on a 6 months ACLP course to be a certified trainer. Having another certification and backup plan is always good. Halfway through the course, I found a new job.
- The COVID pandemic actually threw our lives into disarray. Many traditional businesses have to pivot to online. I watched more YouTube videos, Facebook Live webinars in the past 5 months than I did in my entire life There is so much interesting content online and the best part is most of them are free! Find your own circle of competence and start learning something. Whether it’s investing, dropshipping, e-business or finding motivation. Do not look back at this period years later and find it’s a blank.
- I’ve always wanted to start a blog to document and share my investment journey. I’m blessed to find a mentor who guided me, implemented a site using WordPress and learnt how to ensure my articles rank high on SEO and Readability. Before this I had no idea what SEO means. I learnt that it’s equivalent to having Microsoft Excel/Word/Powerpoint skills in the new digital age!
- Many people are affected by the pandemic and either suffered pay cuts or are being retrenched. I always feel that besides our primary income from employment, we should have other sources of income as a safety net. Maintaining an emergency fund, relooking your expenses to increase savings rate and investing your excess funds are becoming critical. Start to equip yourself with investing knowledge. If you need help and don’t know where to start, please contact me . I hope I can share with you my journey and point you in the right direction.
Conclusion
Like Forest Gump said in the 1994 film:
My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
The only way we can move forward is to keep learning and adapting to changing times.
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