LIFE AFTER COVID: WHAT'S NEXT?
So it’s safe to say, the last couple of months have been a roller coaster both on international and personal levels. From spikes in COVID-19 cases to all live events being cancelled until October, it’s safe to say that this pandemic has hit hard. What felt so secure at the beginning of this year has flipped on its head half way through.
And yet, I feel quietly confident.
Lockdown has been impactful and heavy, but there have also been some silver linings come out of it. Like seeing what can be achieved from cutting out commutes (time wise and financially) and being able to be there for our families (or dog in my case). Wearing more comfortable clothing to work in and eating so much better (and cheaper) if we choose, because we’re not buying lunch out constantly.
So what’s new here?
It will have been about a week since I shared on Twitter and LinkedIn that my time with BorderlessLive and Traverse has come to a close, due to COVID-19. And in this last week I’ve generally just taken the time to decompress, process and start getting ready for the next chapter.
It’s interesting for me because I’ve worked in moving SME’s before, but this was the first time finishing a job that I felt upset about. Getting to know so many wonderful creatives and working on an event with such potential to lift so many people is powerful. As much as you want it to be anyway and I definitely put a lot of myself into making it happen as it did.
That’s what I love about this kind of work though. Knowing you have a stake in something and going to your limits to make your slice of the vision happen. It’s incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. Which is what I set out for a year and a half ago when I left full time office work.
In the last year and a bit, I’ve learned so much and taken on so much - even down to the personal goals I wanted to hit during lockdown. So much so I feel like I need to take a step back for a second again.
Throughout most of my short career so far, I’ve been pretty good at intuitively gaging what step I need to take next. From taking leaps into full time comms and launch work to taking on PR work to get comfortable with press to moving back to SME work because I’ve found that environment much more fulfilling.
Now what? About a month or so ago I was nervous and a bit panicky as at the beginning of 2019, I found it really tough to find freelance work and my skills felt very general. So I got to listening and watching videos, throwing myself into other communities of creative business peeps and finally I got to working on my niche.
It was a really great way to figure out my strengths and weaknesses within marketing and events (two very competitive fields) and from this I discovered I’m strongest (and most fulfilled) in strategy and launches/scaling. Which gave me something much more tangible-feeling to work with when signing up to freelance websites and putting online what I was looking for next. And this time round, people have actually then been in touch. So that’s professional life.
An ultimate goal for me would be being a part of building and scaling more companies through their communications and working remotely while doing it so I can have the flexibility to see more of the world. Which is why I’m still not leaping out of the UK just yet - as much I’d love to.
This summer
Quite honestly I don’t really recall an August that I wasn’t laying low (the only exception would be August 2009 in Peru). While others on social seem to be hopping on planes and dusting off their cars for staycations, I’m taking a minute. Which is rare for me.
I definitely struggle to just “switch off”. Even when I’m meant to be on holiday. I always have thoughts about ideas or projects. So with that in mind, this summer I’m taking things slow. From making sure I’ve finished some trainings to polishing HMW and finishing off some posts. As well finally getting my fitness back up and actually looking after my wellbeing properly again. Just small things like improving my sleep and doing things just for me, like yoga again. And I want to find a place to SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard)!
By the end of August, I want to have built up a steady momentum of practice for my wellbeing and work so that when Autumn rolls around, I am feeling centred and well rested for the next chapter. My ideas now will have plans behind them in the next couple of weeks so that in September, the action can just be taken following a proper, chronological map.
It scares me a bit to just ‘stay put’ when other people seem to be off on adventures, but that’s part of the reason I then decided to start getting into showing off “instagrammable spots” around where I live. As much as I’d love to be planning my next trip, travel changes every day at the moment and nothing seems certain. So as my first choice would be Bali again, for the moment, I’m recreating bit of it here. A fun and creative outlet for sure! From finding a swing in the woods to producing my own smoothie bowl. It’s giving me the giggles either way.
Home or travel?
Which goes for where I’d like to live. Being the older end of my twenties, there’s definitely a sort of desire to find a nice flat or house (lol) that is my own and create a home. Then there’s still the Sagittarius side of me that wants to gallop free on the next plane.
In 2020 of course as we know however, it’s ultimately all COVID-dependant. I would ideally have liked to head back to Brazil first to revisit some of my favourite spots, but Brazil is not having the best time of things. Then I thought Bali for a bit longer than last time - but it’s incredibly hard to predict! While their borders may open next month, that could all change if there’s a second spike/governments don’t feel comfortable letting people in, we just don’t know!
So the sensible section of my brain is thinking, get things together this end and maybe hideaway in the UK until the end of the year. But we’ll see! I may just do something spontaneous…
So what’s next for Han Meets World?
HMW has always been about going for and achieving goals so, for the next few months, I’ll be:
Working on building a remote business and passive incomes.
Using and building up fluency (again) in my secondary languages: Spanish and Portuguese plus reviving my French.
Become confident in photo editing and surfing! Plus maybe invest in a stand up paddleboard…
Let’s keep this manageable, so I’ll stop here for now. The next step will be to put in small tangible steps. So fancy doing these steps with me?
Lockdown, as mentally taxing as it’s been, has definitely felt like a strong reset button. So I’m ready to set some foundations and get cracking!
How about you?
Han x
