My partner and I left our seaside haven for Glasgow yesterday. It was her birthday and we took the opportunity to visit both of our families for the first time since lockdown 4 months ago. We also did some shopping so It was a long day. We picked up some fish and chips on the way home – again breaking a 4 month hiatus – and washed them down wit champagne. The whole day gave me some insights into what living in the new normal or “next” normal might be like.
The first thing I noticed as we headed through Greenock at 9am was that the traffic was busier than I expected. Hardly anything like the pre-covid rush hours that helped us decide to move north, but definitely not the near deserted roads we have seen during lockdown.
Even Granny Knows What Zoom Is
Our first stop was a recently re-opened shopping centre. Donning our masks we noted that the place was still pretty low on customers. Many of the shops were still closed. Others, like opticians had special procedures in place.
It’s still not possible as I write this, to try clothes on in shops. My partner’s visit to TK Maxx was refreshingly short (I only read two pages of my book in the car as I waited!) Joking aside though, that’s got to hurt sales. Like many shops, they have focussed on online sales lately. I strongly believe this will be a huge feature of living in the new normal.
Even people who are normally minimal Internet users (as far as that is possible in 2020) have been using it far more since March this year. It’s been the key means of communication for friends, family and those working from home. Even your grannie knows what Zoom is now. Schools, colleges and Universities have relied on the Internet to teach and most of us have done more of our shopping online than ever before.
So it seems obvious that the internet will continue to play a massive role in the new normal. One aspect of that is online learning which is set to become one of the world’s biggest industries. Before Coranvirus this was estimated at $325 billion per annum by 2025. Now that figure is probably a severe underestimation. E-commerce has seen a huge boom and many experts predict that online shopping will become central to the retail experience.
Skills For Living In The New Normal
But beyond online education, shopping and entertainment the internet is becoming the place to rebuild entire lifestyles decimated by the pandemic. Truth be told it’s been doing that for some time. Corona virus has just been the catalyst for a lot more people who are sick of the 9-5 economy and its endless cycle of recessions.
The skills needed to make a good living in the new normal are all digital. That might mean learning how to take advantage of the e-commerce boom. It might mean pivoting to delivering services or education online. It might simply mean mastering systems that enable working from home.
The scale and variety of opportunity for the digitally skilled is pretty much boundless. Living in the new normal could actually be a lot better than it was in the old normal if you have those skills.
So far living in the new normal has been pretty much business as usual. Since losing my job during the last recession I have been working online from home. I decided that rather than just trying to replace my corporate career with something similar I’d pivot completely.
Even ten years ago it was obvious that my chances of building a new life were a lot better online. Thats proven to be true. Online education and e-commerce provided the keys to more financial, location and time freedom than I’d thought possible.
I built my online business around e-learning and related products. Specifically I partner with a fabulous digital mentorship organisation. They provide people who want to move into the digital marketing world with training, support, systems and resources. You’ll find a link to their free introductory videos below.
Why Aren’t More People Already Doing This?
Along the way I’ve found that I can create multiple online income streams by promoting the self same products I’ve invested in for my own business. I’ve also been able to use all of my existing skills and experience. I have even roped in some of my personal passions.
The only reason I can think of why more people aren’t yet living life like this is that they don’t know how – or even that it’s possible. That is changing though. Corona virus has certainly taken a lot away for us but it has also given many people a big chunk of time they may never have had otherwise.
Lots of people are using this time to look into alternative ways of life and are finding out for the first time what the internet can do for them. Find out for yourself by visiting the link below.
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