The Covid pandemic has been a major disruption for many and one we can’t wait to see the back of, but one shining light on the whole thing has been the fact that it has forced many people to assess their priorities.

In a world where we wear ‘busy’ like a badge of honour, I am a big fan of deliberately slowing down sometimes. I have made some of my best and significantly life changing decisions during periods of ‘slow’ and calm.

Covid has forced many to slow down through no choice of their own. The benefit has been many people have come to their own realisations.

• This ‘down’ time has caused many to slow down and look at their financial situation and realise they could be doing things a lot differently. I have seen this through a large uptick in business.

• It has caused many to think about their current employment and wonder if they could be doing some different or better work that more closely aligns with their goals or a job that doesn’t ‘suck’ as much. We are seeing this through the number of employees resigning, the number of job openings, and the number of new businesses being created.

• It has caused many to reassess their work/life balance and own mortality, and we are seeing more and more people moving towards more flexible working arrangements.

• It has seen many people realise the importance of being near friends and family.

During periods of slow down I have made my own changes.

• When I took 2 weeks off one January, it was not until then that I realised how toxic my full time job was. I couldn’t relax on holiday and my health was suffering. I made the decision to quit on the spot.

• When I badly damaged my back and was bed ridden and was worried about having enough money to pay the mortgage, I learned a lot about better money management and turned my financial life around. Now in a position to achieve a great work/life balance with two young kids.

• When we went on a family trip with no internet or phone reception I came up with an idea for my now business, and wrote the business plan.

• During Covid 2021, I came up with a plan to exit the rat race and semi retire.
  

These are all fantastic changes in my opinion. Life changing changes.

For without these changes, we would probably just continue to struggle along not even realising there is a problem.

That is the problem with not slowing down. We don’t even realise there is a problem if we don’t give ourselves the time to slow down, think and assess.

Of course I hate the fact that we have experienced Covid and I have a bad back, but such events that have forced us to slow down, can have positives if it means it gives you the time you need to assess your life.

Maybe you are deliberately ignoring assessing your life because you are afraid of the answers, but if you are honest with yourself about where your life is heading, and are not happy with the answers, then the best thing you can do is face it head on and make the necessary changes.

My life is so much better for the bold and hard decisions I have made and I am so glad that I decided not to continue just drifting along being blissfully unaware of any alternatives. The fact that our hands are forced sometimes makes the whole process that much easier and for that, I think there is one thing we can thank Covid for.

The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here