You will never have this much time available to you again. How are you going to ring out this opportunity?
Some of you are still working full time, taking care of and trying to homeschool your kids, or in another less than ideal situation. How you show resilience, ambition, and innovation during all of this is going to set you up for success down the road. There are things you can be doing now – in whatever capacity you can do them in – to set yourself up for success when the world re-opens its doors.
You can use this time in whatever way you want to, but just think about how you want to look back. When in your next interview they ask “what did you do during quarantine?” what answer you want to give. As much as we want to binge Netflix all day, everyday (and sometimes that is exactly what we need), that isn’t going to move you in the direction you know you want to go.
Here is a list of ways you can use this time to differentiate yourself from the crowd in your next interview or even just answer the question “How do I want to look back on this time, what story do I want to tell?” You’re here reading this so I’m assuming you want to tell a story of perseverance and personal growth and we are here to help you do that.
Build your skills
We all have things we wish we were better at. They could be soft skills like problem solving or leadership or hard skills like an ability to develop a website. These are the things that we wish we had time the time to improve and now we have all been given that extra time to learn something new or improve what we already have.
There are several resources out there for you to improve your skillset and a lot of them are free or cost very little and thanks to technology, you can access them without ever leaving your house. Resources such as LinkedIn Learning, SkillShare, Blinkest, Audible, and even YouTube.
Discover your passion and start a business
Have you always had an idea for what you really wanted to do? Do you already have a side hustle that you want to eventually turn into your main hustle?
Now is the time to go all in on those big passion filled dreams. The excuse of “I’m too busy” isn’t going to work and if you really wanted it, you would be making it a priority. You don’t have to have it all figured out, just start. Try it out. See that you have what it takes to make it. Also, if you’ve been bored and trying to fill your time, building a business takes ton and this is a much better use of that time than Netflix all day!
Trouble finding your passion? A quick way to help guide you in the direction is to ask yourself this simple question:
“What can I talk about for 30 minutes without any preparation?” Think about the times when you are talking with your friends or family, or your colleagues that ask you what you do in your spare time. What makes you so excited that you can’t stop yourself from going on and on about it?
What makes you start talking without realizing you haven’t taken a breath in awhile is worth noticing!
Make meaningful connections
Just because we are stuck at home doesn’t mean we have to be stuck only talking to the (if we are lucky) few to be quarantining with. We discussed how to expand your network from the comfort of your couch in a previous post. Use the tools you still have available to continue to talk to the people you admire, the people you want to work with in the future, or the people you want to learn from.
The opportunity is there, you just have to take it!
Become a thought leader in your field
You’ve had enough years on this earth to know something about something. Maybe it has to do with your job or maybe it’s a side hobby. You can take when you know and turn it into content to share with the world. By doing this you will be building your personal brand and making connections with future employers, customers or clients.
It used to be that you would be the architect behind the scenes running the business but it is no longer exclusively about the product or service your company provides.
Without taking the time to build your personal brand (even if it’s in a different field) it will take more effort to start your business without you at the forefront. It means without your personal brand, without the promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability, you are starting from scratch and working from the ground up every single time in each new endeavour.
People are caring more about joining your community and following along your journey than simple the product or service you provide.
In building your personal brand by becoming a thought leader, you are attracting a more engaged and loyal audience that you can leverage for future success.
You can use this time to improve your skills, expand your network, start that business, and/or become a thought leader. What are you going to do with this time? What story do you want to tell when this is all over?