How much you achieve will be dependent on the people you look to for support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you surround with people who don’t support you or your ambitions, the chances of success are little to none. But if you create a close circle of people who are positive, encouraging and supporting – success is much more likely.

Don’t get me wrong, it takes hard work and dedication, having to constantly learn and improve your knowledge and skills. But there are plenty of online resources to help you to continuously learn and grow, then the possibilities are endless even whilst working from home.

Go ahead and dream – set yourself goals that go beyond this lockdown. Don’t limit yourself to just surviving this quarantine, set a goal about how you will thrive and come out the other side stronger!

The key is to call those people and tell them your goals and lean on those people who think your dreams are fantastic, who make good suggestions and encourage you to move forward.

Take this time to learn about yourself. Recognise times when you are motivated and when you feel like you have nothing left to give. What creates those different feelings? Identify self-awareness so that you know if you start feeling less enthusiastic you need to take action to get back on track.

There are lots of things you can do to generate a positive feeling, here are just a few examples. If one method doesn’t work for you, try another. Learning takes practice. Be patient with yourself and you will reap the benefits:

  • Read positive and practical books that are relevant
  • Read blogs by successful and motivating people
  • Join local business groups that will help motivate and educate you
  • Mentor someone who is at an earlier stage of learning than you
  • Write your own blog to pass on what you’re learning
  • Go for a walk and enjoy the great outdoors
  • Call your ‘buddies’ to provide mutual help and encouragement
  • Make and keep a list of all the things you’re grateful for
  • Focus on only the things you can make a difference to
  • Create a “dream board” with pictures representing what you want to be, do and have in your life
  • Create a “bucket list” of 100 things you want to be, do and have. Plan to achieve one per quarter. Each time you tick one off, add a new one
  • Listen to audiobooks from wise people – Jim Rohn, Stephen Covey, etc
  • Set about learning something new every month so that you’re continually getting better at planning, executing, communicating and improving
  • Plan where you want to be in 5 years time, then plan what you need to do to start over the next 90 days

This list could go on and on.

But you have to ask yourself; how many of these things do I already do? If the answer is ‘not many’, are you ready to take the first step to changing your life? Whatever you’ve achieved so far in your life is not an indicator of what you can achieve in the future – the future is entirely down to what you make it, starting today.