Back in Feb 2020, right before the global lockdown I was travelling to the beautiful country of Taiwan. My life was a bit of a mess back than. I was often angry at the world; with my unfair manager, with the people I met and the dates I went on, but frankly I was mostly upset and disappointed in myself for the place I was in.

After this trip to Taiwan I had to fly back to London, to go back to my 9–5 job. Coming back to work that Monday, everything was the same. I was so upset with my manager who at that time was the only person allowed to work from home.

I’ve had enough of it all. That Monday I handed in my resignation. I decided I’m going to leave the UK and move to Taiwan, where I thought that my life would better. I called the landlord to cancel my apartment.

Next month I would make the move to Taiwan. At work I said that I want to leave on good terms and that I will only leave whenever the next person is fully trained and can do my job. That statement probably saved my life, because no one had any idea what the world was getting into.

The next week governments started a global lockdown. Flights were cancelled: businesses had to stay closed: people lost their jobs or were furloughed. The world started to panic and so did I.

I knew that I couldn’t make the move to Taiwan anymore. I asked my boss if I can stay with the company, which would be a win-win as it’s very hard to train someone remotely when we were still trying to find out how to work from home and get this all set up. Luckily this was possible.

However, over the next few weeks I became more and more upset. I was watching video after video about conspiracies, vaccines, governments closing down business without proper compensation or rationale, people losing their jobs, China taking over Hong Kong illegally and so much more.

I was in such an angry place and became more and more negative by the day. How come a country like Taiwan had only a few cases? They offered their help to the WHO and other countries, but China bullied them into silence. Back in February they were already wearing masks and installing hand sanitisers everywhere, which only happened in the UK in July. I was repeating these stories again and again in my head and on social media. I felt that life was very unfair.

But one day I realised that these negative thoughts weren’t going to change my life. It was costing me so much energy and life force I had to stop this. I thought: “What do I want my story to be 20 years from now?” When someone is going to ask me then: ”What did you do during Corona?” What do I want my answer to be?

Do I want to be known as someone who was just angry all of the time: blaming the government, the news and conspiracies? Or do I want to be known as someone who used this as an opportunity to make change and to start to manage my own life first?

I started to think more constructively. I stopped taking in the negativity from the news and the outside world. I still watched the news, but I would try not to get upset. I started to use social media less and not engage anymore in conspiracies and drama. I started to go within myself and take charge of how I feel.

I went back to my job and gave it my 100% plus more: I went above and beyond and focusing on adding value to the company rather than just focusing on myself. I started to truly love myself and to look after myself.

Within a short few months my life has changed for the better, that I would never be able to do if it weren’t for Corona. So thank you Corona! Here are the changes I was able to make:

Love: Shortly after I truly loved myself, I met Ivan, the love of my life. We live together now and I feel the luckiest man alive to be with him every day.

Work: Within a month of the lockdown my angry and autocratic boss left. I received three pay rises in a 6-month period. I feel happier with my new manager and get rewarded more fairly for the work I do. I didn’t even ask for the payrises, but got them as my manager said that I “go above and beyond”. This is the key if you want to get a payrise or to get a job: go beyond what is required and truly care about what you’re doing. It gives you more than just money; it will also make you feel better about yourself.

Health: I started working out from home when the gyms were closed; and signed up to a new gym when they were allowed to reopen. I lost 5kg and went from 24% bodyfat (skinnyfat) to 18% bodyfat now. I started to commit to a plant-based lifestyle and have more energy than ever before.

Education: When the lockdown was announced in March, I knew that we probably have to stay home for months. Staying home is the perfect time to do some further study without any distractions! I signed up to do my final 4 ACCA (an accounting degree) exams in September and started to study like crazy.

Money: I significantly increased my income and created two more streams of semi-passive income. I also started to invest and saved more money that I now didn’t have to pay for transport and related work expenses.

I know that these times can be tough for you and your family. It can be painful to lose your job, to watch the news and to be restricted in your life by all these rules and governments who have no idea what they’re doing.

Although this article is meant to be inspiring, I get it that life is hard sometimes. I have lost my job for three times in my life. At one point I was jobless for more than a year. I have many friends who lost their businesses, who got furloughed and who lost their jobs. I feel for you. It truly sucks and it could be difficult to find meaning in these challenging times.

But why not use this as an opportunity to make change in your life from within? Ask yourself this question: “What do I want my Corona-story to be 20 years from now”? What am I going to tell my family or kids when they are going to ask me about 2020? Is my story going to inspire them or despair them?

What degree can you do or what can you learn? What qualification can you do that helps you in your career? What can you do to look after yourself better? Who can you connect with on a deeper level? How can you take care of your health and stay safe?

I hope that this article gives you a bit of positivity during these challenging times.

What is your number one take away from this story? Let me know below.