This Coronavirus has turned our lives completely upside down and most of us are eager to get back to normal as soon as the pandemic is over. But what is normal? Most of us know that our life after Coronavirus is never going to be the same as before. As a Reiki energy worker and a lifestyle consultant, I share some tips on shifting your mindset and planning for life after the pandemic.

The world is no longer as we knew it

Whether you are in the lockdown, social distancing or self-isolation, life has not been easy for the last few weeks. There is increased anxiety in the world, not just for contracting the highly contagious virus COVID-19, but worries over the economy, jobs and our financial future.

Some people are lucky enough to be in a position where these sudden changes have not affected them drastically. Some can continue to work remotely without their income being affected.

But for most people, it has been a period of reflection, reviews and rethinking. Not just about how we interact with other people but what we eat and how we work.

This Coronavirus pandemic all started from the virus which existed in animals were passed on to a human by ingestion. This might have made people convert to a vegan or a vegetarian.

Aside from reviewing what we eat, the ‘Stay at Home’ rule has made us adapt to changes in how we work. For most office workers, the technology has existed for many years to enable people to work remotely instead of the daily commute to the office. Some businesses embraced the technology in this way and others tried to stick to the old ways of doing business and treating their staff.

But all businesses need to have their business continuity plans updated to include responding to a pandemic in addition to natural disasters such as fire, flooding and earthquakes. This also means we, as an individual need to have our own personal continuity plan in place.

Most changes are made because of restrictions and pains

Personally, I believe there is always a possibility of another deadly virus which might or might not develop into epidemic or pandemic next year. The thing is we never know what will happen next year, next month or even tomorrow, for that matter. All we can do is to be prepared. Because in having a contingency in place, we attain peace of mind.

That is easier said. The fact is that most people do not make adequate plans. People don’t usually enjoy spending time worrying about negative scenarios. Most of the time people take things for granted as if everything will last infinitely.

I see people working in a job they hate but most do not make other plans to change the situation or look for alternatives seriously. Gone are the days that you work for one company all your life anyway. When something like the COVID-19 strikes, people wake up to the fact that they have no other contingency plan. Some may lose their job which is very unfortunate and they realize for the first time, that they can only rely on themselves.

As I said, I have seen people who are unhappy in relationships, in their job or whatever but do not do anything about it for years, until one day something happens that forces them to change their path. People usually make changes, because of restrictions and pains when those become unbearable rather than thinking logically and proactively about making sensible plans not just financially but for their own happiness and fulfilment. But we can do something about this now.

Not putting all your eggs in one basket

When you learn to invest in the stock market, the first thing they teach you is to diversify your portfolio and never to go ‘all in’ in one stock or one industry or one sector. The reason is quite simple; to spread your risk so that if one sector or industry go down in the economy, you won’t lose all your money.

So why do you put all your eggs in one basket with your personal income and career? That’s no different to gambling at a casino in Vegas.

But for most of us, the reason is that we did not have a choice or we were never taught to do anything different.

Most of us grew up believing getting a job and work our way up a career ladder was the thing to do. But those days are gone. I have been told that some statistics show that 36% of Millennial have some kind of side income apart from their main job.

That’s probably because they are growing up in the period in which using the internet to earn money is quite normal. So having multiple streams of income is not a strange idea for them.

One of the problems that this Coronavirus pandemic have highlighted is that too many people rely on one source of income, in other words; not diversifying their income source to protect their financial future.

Basically putting all eggs in one basket.

What you can do to plan for a better future

In order to start planning for life after Coronavirus pandemic, instead of wishing for everything to go back to the way they were, accept that the world will probably never be the same. You can take this time of lockdown and ‘stay at home’ as a gift of time and start building an income stream that will still work should something like this happen again in the future. There are others who are already taking action on creating a future that looks different. This includes starting a side hustle alongside their main job to grow multiple income streams online and off-line. Whatever you decide, don’t get left behind, take control of your life, get back in your driving seat and start building a brighter future, not out of fear or pain but because you want to make smart choices.

Find out three best side hustles you can start this weekend or while you are staying at home.

This is not the end, this is the beginning.

Building multiple streams of income isn’t about becoming super-rich or being greedy. It is about taking responsibility for our own lives and making smart choices. We have an opportunity to reflect on what’s really important and most of the time they are things that we cannot buy with money. Growing additional income streams is more about creating more time so that we can be available for the people we deeply care about.

Humans have survived many adversities, and we can again. But this time we must think and care about other living things on this planet and the true purpose of our lives.

I really hope you found this article helpful and start diversifying your income and prepare for more changes. Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.