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00:00:01
What COVID-19 Has Taught Me
13 Plays4 years ago
In this week's episode I discussed the lesson I've learned during this global pandemic.
Recommended Resource: Rework by Jason Fried and David Hansson Heinemeier https://amzn.to/34EyAXv
If you want to send me an email you can email me at [email protected] instagram.com/elianeanita
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facebook.com/elianeanitashow
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Recorded, Produced and Edited by Éliane Anita
Track Produced by Devo Beats
This is a Relevant Media production and Podcast
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Eliana Nita podcast, the podcast created to inform, challenge and empower you. Now let's get down to business.
00:00:26
Speaker
Hey, guys, welcome back to the Alienity podcast. And I am so excited to have you join me for this week.
Impact of COVID-19 and Support for Healthcare Workers
00:00:34
Speaker
As you all know, we are being affected by a global pandemic, COVID-19, and it has rocked our world literally. And before I started talking about anything in this podcast, I want to first send all of my love, my support, my energy
00:00:55
Speaker
My prayers, my thoughts to anyone who is in the healthcare profession that is out there risking their lives every single day to care for the sick and the needy in this moment, especially those that are in New York where there's over more than 200 at the time, at the time of this recording is more than 200,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
00:01:20
Speaker
I know that so many doctors are being stretched and being worked and being pulled on in this moment and I just want to say that I love you guys. I support you guys and I am praying with you. I also want to send my condolences to anyone that has lost a loved one
00:01:39
Speaker
due to COVID-19. I know what it's like I just recently lost a family member myself from COVID-19 and so I just want to send out all of my love prayers and condolences to anyone who has lost someone due to this virus.
00:01:57
Speaker
I also would like to send my love and support and prayers to anyone who is sick from COVID-19. So if you are currently suffering or if you have suffered from COVID-19, I want you to know that I am praying for you and praying that you make a speedy and strong recovery.
00:02:14
Speaker
And for anybody that's out there that has not been affected by COVID-19, as far as health wise, I want to say stay healthy to you. And I also want to say to anyone that has lost their job or has been furloughed due to COVID-19, I want to let you know that I'm praying for you and I'm believing that this too shall pass and we will overcome this together.
Health Tips and Personal Experience
00:02:42
Speaker
So if you can, stay in the house, stay quarantined. If you're not an essential worker, make sure that you are taking your vitamin C, keeping your immune system up and that you are keeping yourself active as much as you can. Guys, make sure you are zooming in with your loved ones and have fun during this time, catch up on your rest, do what you have to do for you in this moment while
00:03:10
Speaker
our nation and our world recovers from this virus. So I just wanted to hop on here really fast just to say hi to you guys, just to love on you guys really fast just to say that I am here, I am pushing, I am working with you guys.
00:03:29
Speaker
I am obviously I'm an American so we are currently in the heat of the moment with COVID-19 and so I just want to let you guys know that I'm still healthy. Thank you Jesus. I am an essential worker so I am going to work every day.
00:03:47
Speaker
And part of my job, what I do is we do a lot of essential testing on air, water, and soil. So we're actually helping to protect the environment from things like COVID-19 and just different things that's out there.
00:04:05
Speaker
Yes, we are working around the clock. So I just wanted to jump in and talk to you guys just really quickly about maybe just talk about some things that I've learned during this COVID-19 season.
Financial Stewardship and Planning
00:04:19
Speaker
I have been just kind of as, as much as I've been quarantined as much as I can be quarantined.
00:04:25
Speaker
I've been just kind of thinking about just several different things and several different lessons that I walked away with. I talked to a coworker and I asked her what was one of her biggest lessons and so I just wanted to just share some thoughts and just give you guys something to listen to as we all are quarantined. So one of the things that I learned that I walked away learning from COVID-19 and this is
00:04:51
Speaker
It seemed like it is a given, but after reading an article, I think it was a Wall Street Journal article or Forbes Magazine article that said that most of Americans cannot go a whole month without pay, meaning that we don't have enough money stashed to last us a whole month without pay.
00:05:16
Speaker
And something that, and you know something else, not only Americans, but businesses as well. So many businesses was living, what we found out was living check to check, literally like they was just making it week by week. Even major companies was just making it as like just by the skin of their teeth. Like our government has had to bail out the whole airline industry because they have reserves.
00:05:44
Speaker
And so this taught me and it were basically reiterated to me the importance of stewardship. How very important it is to make sure that we steward our money in the best way possible. I've learned like it is vitally important to have three to six months if not a year of your monthly income saved up as well as
00:06:11
Speaker
Pay off pay off every debt that you possibly can. It's just, it was just in that season where stewardship like our, our lack of or our preparedness of stewardship is really showing.
00:06:26
Speaker
And unfortunately for so many industries and so many businesses and also so many people, it's being shown that we are not as good as stewards as we should be. And so this season has really taught me that you have to really tighten up on your stewardship and make sure that you are solid and you are secure for whatever the future holds.
00:06:51
Speaker
Another thing that I learned is the importance of multiple streams of income. Having multiple streams of income is good period, but it is even better in extreme emergencies like this. As we see many companies are forced to close their doors and unfortunately many of these companies won't open them again and this is why it's so important to have more than one stream of income.
00:07:16
Speaker
I was taught that you need to go to college and once you graduate, you can get a good paying job. But for me, my experience after 9-11, those good jobs went away. They no longer exist. And so for my generation and the generations after me, we're required.
00:07:35
Speaker
to do out of the ordinary things, we have to create jobs. And not only do we have to create jobs, we have to create multiple streams of income. The thing is, is that you just don't know how your company is managing this money. Your company can be in deep debt, or maybe your company just don't generate a lot of money. Maybe it's only generating enough money to get through day to day.
00:08:00
Speaker
And so because we don't know what our companies are doing in an extreme emergency like this, they could be forced to close their doors or have to close their doors and never reopen them again, therefore leaving us without a job. So the best way to self-guard yourself in these kinds of situations is to have more than one stream of income.
Importance of Crisis Planning
00:08:26
Speaker
Another thing that I learned is that
00:08:30
Speaker
I need a crisis plan. I think that everybody needs a crisis plan. You know, do you have a bag packed if you had to vacate your home? Like if you had to, if somebody said you got to get out your house right away, do you have some kind of backpack where you have clothes or or things that can hold you over for a week or a day or whatever, right?
00:08:51
Speaker
Where would you go if you had to leave? If you had to just vacate, where would you go? Do you have an emergency contact? Who is that emergency contact? If you had to stay in your house and you couldn't get out, do you have enough food stored? Many of us panic when the spread of this virus happened. And right now, stores can't keep things like toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning products in stock. And it's simply because we just didn't have a crisis plan in place.
00:09:20
Speaker
And so I want to challenge you and I've had to challenge myself as well to sit down and honestly think through what would it look like if just a sudden emergency happened and I needed to vacate my home or if I had to take shelter in my home.
00:09:40
Speaker
What would that look like? How would I manage through that? How would I be able to survive that? Who knows about this? Who can I talk to? All of those things. So it's so important that we just really honestly think through crisis plans.
Post-COVID Societal Shifts
00:09:55
Speaker
Something else that COVID-19 revealed to me is that change is nigh. Once this virus has passed and the dust has settled, life as we know it will never be the same. Unfortunately, like I said, many businesses won't open their doors again, therefore leaving many properties vacant. Many companies will realize that
00:10:17
Speaker
The price is costing them to rent or own a building. It's a huge cost and they can have their people work from home. It's also showing me how important universal health care is needed. So many issues all at once just came to the surface and revealed itself.
00:10:38
Speaker
And now it's showing us that we really need to take time to rethink how we go about business, school, and just life in general. The interesting thing about it is that we live in a technological and informational age. And the truth of the matter is that so many of our habits are archaic.
00:11:00
Speaker
And that's something that I feel like is going to change at the COVID-19. We're going to see how we're going to have to really start utilizing technology at its best. And that's something that we honestly feel like we have not done a good job at is utilizing all of the technology that we have.
00:11:21
Speaker
available. So it's so vitally important that we make changes and start to really look at things and revamp how we go about things. A book that really opened my eyes to making significant changes about the way you operate in business and
00:11:39
Speaker
the way that you operate just in life in general. And I believe I recommended this book before, but it's a book called rework. It is a phenomenal book. And if you can get your hands on it, it's a very easy read, but it is jam packed with information. And I want to admonish you to go out and get that book. I'm going to link it in the show description if you're interested in reading it. But it's so important that that we think about and rework our processes in a way that we go about
Work-Life Balance and Personal Time
00:12:07
Speaker
things.
00:12:07
Speaker
Another thing that came to my mind and opened my eyes to see is that so many of these companies shut their doors and furloughed all of their people to save their businesses, to make sure that they had money in the bank and that they would be okay after this, but not really taking
00:12:30
Speaker
into account what is costing their employees to not work or what is really costing their employees not to have emergency funds and things like that. And so abruptly companies just had to shut down completely. And so many people, like I said, has been affected by this. At this time of the recording, 16.8 million people have filed for unemployment.
00:12:55
Speaker
And the truth of the matter is the real hard truth of this is that your company has no problem with firing you within a heartbeat. If it means their money and your livelihood, they're going to choose their money always. And they're not going to always look out for your best interests. And so the truth of the matter is, is that
00:13:16
Speaker
When you have sick time or when you're actually sick or when your child is sick or when you just need a day to yourself to just kind of recalibrate, take your time off. Enjoy your life as much as you possibly can because at the end of the day, nobody's going to be responsible for you but you.
Vulnerability and Seeking Help
00:13:39
Speaker
Another thing that I learned is to be vulnerable. This is the time where you need to ask for help. This is not the time for you to be prideful. So if you need full money, encouragement, ask, reach out to your circle, reach out to your people and just say, Hey guys, I'm feeling really alone right now.
00:13:58
Speaker
this quarantine is really starting to get the best of me. Could you call me or could we do a Zoom time or can I schedule some time with you? Maybe we can sit down at our tables and have coffee. I just miss human interaction and I need somebody. Or if you've been furloughed off your job and you need food and you don't have it, reach out and ask for help. Don't be ashamed to go to a food bank.
00:14:24
Speaker
And I know that a lot of parents are being hit because so many of them are being furloughed as well as their child is at home so they have no food to feed their child and it's hard. But we're in this together and we have to band together as a community to help one another. So just be vulnerable and ask for help if you need it. One of the things that's been helping me get through this hard time has been having a weekly Zoom call with my family.
00:14:54
Speaker
Being able to see all of their faces and crack jokes and enjoy just the ambiance of them, even though I'm not in their presence, just knowing that they're okay and us being together with them, it just makes my heart smile. Even in that, just being vulnerable and saying, hey guys, sometimes I really feel alone and just having this time with you just makes me happy. Open up yourself.
00:15:19
Speaker
if you can, or with whomever you want to open yourself up to, and allow yourself to be loved because we need each other so much.
Self-Reflection and Relationships
00:15:30
Speaker
And one of the final things that I've walked away learning from COVID-19 is it's time to examine the relationships you're in, including the one you're in with yourself.
00:15:41
Speaker
We have more time than we ever have. Honestly, like we just never really thought we would have this much time, especially in this year. But so many people have been saying that 2020 is a year of perfect vision. We're going to be able to see things more clearly than what we have.
00:15:59
Speaker
And I want to admonish you to take this time to really get some 20-20 vision about your relationships. If you're finding it hard to be alone with yourself, ask yourself the hard questions. Why am I afraid to be alone with myself? What is it about me that I don't like or I don't feel comfortable with?
00:16:20
Speaker
Set boundaries, ask questions, examine as much as you can, dig deep as much as you can because it is necessary for us to walk out of this season better, recalibrate it, and focus for whatever it is that we need to do.
00:16:42
Speaker
I believe this pandemic has revealed our weaknesses and it showed us our strengths. I believe that it's brought clarity in an uncommon way. I want to encourage you to do some thinking and planning for your life post pandemic.
Conclusion and Safety Reminder
00:16:58
Speaker
Right now, some things you want to do, some action steps that you can do, and if you can do any of that stuff now,
00:17:04
Speaker
do it. Keep your energy and your spirit up and remember that this too shall pass. I am praying for everybody to remain healthy or get healthy and stay safe. My thoughts again are with anybody who has lost a family member
00:17:20
Speaker
to this pandemic. I'm also praying for every essential worker out there, medical staff and essential workers alike. I am praying for you guys and I want to say thank you for your sacrifice and your service to keep our world somewhat normal. And I just want to say to you guys, I really do love you. I hope that you guys enjoyed this podcast.
00:17:44
Speaker
If you want to reach out to me, if you want to send an email or anything, you can email me at alienanitashow at gmail.com and of course you can always hit me up on any social media platform. I am alienanita on all of the things.
00:18:00
Speaker
I love you guys so much, and as always, stay relevant, be blessed, and now more importantly, stay healthy and stay safe. I will talk to you guys soon. Love you, bye.