What are some of the lessons you have learned from the 2020 health and economic crisis? Although the 2020 pandemic is not yet over, it has taught us a lot of lessons. From the lies, the misinformation to the conspiracy theories and manipulation. We saw it all in 2020.
Every crisis comes with opportunity, and it’s important that we don’t let a crisis go to waste. At the very least, you want to come out of this crisis a little bit smarter. That way you can make smarter decisions that will benefit your future. That’s why in this article, I want to go over 7 important lessons that we learned during this health and economic crisis. So make sure you read this until the end because you don’t want to miss any of these lessons.
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- Always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst
Today many people around the world have become jobless within less than two months. In many parts of the world, some of the most coveted jobs are in the banking and oil sector. But a large number of these highly paid employees are out of job and more to follow. Many of these people will lose direction and feel like it’s the end of the world for them. Only a few will have prepared for the worst.
Your responsibility is to make sure you and your family are financially okay no matter what happens. In the time of plenty, you prepare for the time of empty. That is why financial education is very important. No one could have predicted that the world will go on lockdown. No one could have predicted that oil will sell at a negative value. And even today, no one can predict what is yet to come. At the end of this pandemic, we may have to deal with some serious economic downturn. While being optimistic about tomorrow, are you preparing for the worst?
- You need to have savings
When life happens, it could be a matter of life and death. That is why it is important to have savings. You may get by living from hand to mouth when things are good. But quickly be in a miserable place once things go south like we have experienced today.
Unlike what your financial adviser might have told you, your savings are not there to make you wealthy. Your savings are there, as a financial shield to protect you in case of an emergency.
In the wake of the corona virus outbreak, you would expect that at least many businesses should be able to keep their workers for at least one month. It’s surprising how many businesses started laying off workers immediately the pandemic hit.
If businesses and people had a savings cushion, this economic crisis from the lockdown would have been manageable at least for the first month. Your savings are not there to make you wealthy. Your savings are there to protect you from going into debt when an emergency happens. This is an important lesson to take away from this time.
- We live in a world of corporate greed
As oil price hit its record low, countries that depended on oil for a greater part of its revenue went into great shock. In Nigeria, the banking sector is in great danger if oil companies went bankrupt because about 30% of banking-sector loans went to oil companies in the country. And the oil sector accounts for up to 90% of Nigeria’s foreign earnings. Just imagine how an entire nation’s economy and finance sector is dependent on one commodity; oil. It’s no wonder, there is slow development in other sectors across the country. This is not peculiar to Nigeria.
The great recession of 2008 happened as a result of the greed of the banking sector in the United States. Banks got a bit greedy issuing risky loans to people so they could buy homes they couldn’t afford. And then banks took these loans and started gambling on them, and selling them to wealthy institutions and banks. Everyone thought the price of houses will continue to rise until the majority of people couldn’t repay their housing loans, the housing market collapsed. Banks needed help. The government had to bail them out from the result of their recklessness.
Fast forward to 2020, the US government is spending trillions of dollars to bail out big businesses from failing, because these businesses had little to no savings to protect them. While small businesses are getting little support. I’m not sure what you can take away from this lesson. But I believe understanding how the system works can enlighten you to make smarter financial decisions.
- People generally loves spreading fears
You probably got some those messages and voice notes circulating on Whatsapp and other social media platforms. Lots of fear-driven messages went around. People started panicking. It was crazy across the board. Some said it was the end of the world. Well, we are still here, at least for now. The lesson here is to not get caught up in the circle of media-driven fear. It’s important to do your own research and act based on your own findings.
- Every crisis comes with opportunities
There have been several predictions of online education being the future of education. That didn’t seem much likely until schools were forced to close down. This has widely opened up opportunities for learning online.
While people have lost a lot of money in stock during this crisis; many people have gained significantly too. While many businesses were negatively affected by the lockdown due to the pandemic, many businesses are recording their highest revenue. While some people are losing their jobs, some people are seizing this opportunity to develop their digital technology skill and chart a new career. Every crisis comes with opportunity, but you can’t capitalize on this opportunity unless you have the right information. And you can’t have the right information if you are looking in the wrong places. That’s why we have been sharing videos to help you look in the right direction. If you are wondering where to start, check out our post on, businesses that will boom after this pandemic in the description below.
- Lack of time is never an excuse
Before this lockdown started, we all know someone who said that “if I just had more time, I’d finally be able to learn that new skill or start that business or finally get in shape.
Well, this lockdown started and people were forced to stay home. Suddenly, people had more time than they had imagined. Check on these people and find out if they did start getting in shape and learning about starting a business. Instead, you’ll find that people used that extra time to scroll through social media, watch movies and catch up on their favourite series on Netflix.
You see, this lockdown has proven the power of your mindset. People make excuses and when the excuse is eliminated, they replace it with another excuse. It’s never about the lack of time for most people. It’s the habit of procrastination. And until they work on this habit, no opportunity will matter; not even extended lockdown. Six months from now, people are going to be wishing for this opportunity to have all this free time again. The whole idea of the world going on lockdown seemed like a fairy tale early 2020. But this goes to show that anything is possible, good or bad. You can choose to be honest with yourself and say, “enough with the excuses”.
Last and most importantly;
- Life is short, health is wealth
If there is just one thing we can universally learn from this crisis, it is that life and health are more important than anything else. Governments across the world had to risk destroying its economic system due to a health threat. Would you care about $100 million dollars in your bank account if you can’t breathe? If you are not healthy, nothing else matters; not the stock market or any economic policy. So please set your priority right. Take care of your health. Eat healthily. Exercise. Take a break from work when you can. Stay alive and healthy. It matters over everything else.
