Hard to believe we’re really only about 8-10 days into social distancing protocols, etc. The world seems SOOOO different than it did a week ago, but things will come back around. Today, I wanted to do a couple of things.
Update on the progress of our accountability team and my personal results since we started it in October 2019
Look at career worries and considerations in a post social distancing world
So as some who follow this blog may or may not know, I entered into a pact with two others in late October as a result of learnings from our last Caregiver & Aging Conference in 2019. Worried about chronic ailments as I get older I asked how do I get myself on a path to living a healthier lifestyle by setting up the right habits to make meaningful lifetime changes. The answer I got from Carrie Amos who was on the panel Leading a Healthy and Balanced Life As We Age was to set up an accountability team, people who would hold me accountable for meeting short and long term goals.
I joined forces with RoseAnne Homola and my niece and we laid out our goals on paper and shared them with each other. We were much more engaged for the first 3 months, but still keep in touch a few times a week on group texts to share victories, admit defeats, etc. But I am happy to say that my niece passed her fitness test in the Army and has been dropping weight. RoseAnne has been committed to exercising and shared so many great recipes / foods to eat healthier and I am pleased to say that I am 20 pounds down, halfway to my goal and averaging about .75-1 lb a week. I have run two 5ks and up until the social distancing I was actively exercising 3-4 times per week. I hope to step the exercise back up again once we get a routine in place for our home daycare situation right now :).
But ultimately the goal of the lifestyle change was to get myself into a better place for my future self. I didn’t want to wait until I was going to be placed at risk for various conditions like diabetes, heart disease, etc. I am likely already at risk for those, but getting healthier for the long term (rather than short term crash diets, etc.) will help me live a more meaningful and hopefully longer life for my kids. Now in light of Coronavirus, we can see the importance of living a healthier lifestyle to protect ourselves by building up our immune systems.
Living a healthier lifestyle is simple to understand, but very HARD to live until you change the way you live your life. For me, the accountability team has helped push me into the right place, but the final accountability team member (God) will help keep me on the right path because through him I really have found comfort and insight into how to make this whole thing happen.
What to Do In a Post Coronavirus Job Market?
Here’s a helpful article on 5 tips for the job search today - during the Coronavirus crisis - think about how to be “on” during virtual interviews and consider videos to help people access more about you - these tips and more here: https://www.atriumstaff.com/5-tips-for-job-searching-during-coronavirus/
The Coronavirus will forever change so much of how we conduct business today and tomorrow. Just think how new industries might explode like telecommuting options, telecoms, streaming movie distribution and production (will theaters recover???), online eduction and more. Here’s a piece in the Washington Post from a few days ago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/21/economy-change-lifestyle-coronavirus/
Who’s hiring today? Here’s a great article in the Wall Street Journal talking about 500,000 jobs being hired up quick. https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-sparks-hiring-spree-for-nearly-500-000-jobs-at-biggest-retailers-11584984596
