How COVID19 changed my plans and how I deal with it

Not sure how many people do it, but every year I would have goals for work, travel, and life. I figured it's a good way to keep myself happy--having a purpose and making sure that I am on my way to achieve it.

However, at the beginning of the year, I knew that many of my plans would fail:
-A ski trip to Japan + visiting friends in Tokyo
-Business trips to Hong Kong + visiting friends and just being there
-A wedding trip to Seattle + visiting friends and just being there
-Meeting up with my Spanish boyfriend, whereever and just being together

ALL THESE PLANS FAILED

As soon as I knew that this year will not be the same, I shifted my focus. I went through a thought process to figure out what is it that I want for the longer run, and what I can do in the short term to achieve it. So I listed out a few goals:

-Keep the relationship with a Spanish partner

• Learn Spanish
• Start a business model that would work virtually, so Emilio and I can be more flexible and not bound to our jobs in Asia or Spain respectively

-Strengthen my career competency in international environmental work
-Climb 5.11s (6b+, 6c)

After I listed out my goals, I realized there's still a lot I can do during COVID19.

To climb and stay healthy

First off, I can still climb, luckily in Taiwan, we are never forbidden to go outdoors. The only problem is my swollen fingers. I probably still need to lose more weight. So I would stay controlled with my diet--not having carbs in breakfast and only eat when I am hungry. Snack on nuts & fruits, and no sugar in coffee or tea. Although as a Taiwanese person I still cannot resist tapioca and other chewy stuff we put in drinks or shaved ice. In order to enjoy the food we love, I would cut on added sugar, carbs on other foods, or fried food in general.

To strengthen my career competency in international environmental work

There are very, very few Taiwanese people who do environmental work, and even fewer that do it internationally. In the past years, I saw many of my previous colleagues who went on this path, though most of them would focus on ocean and fisheries.

I study geography and forest resources. I struggle to find work that suits perfectly with my career aspiration. I took on digital work because I knew the skills are much needed in the virtual-everything era, and it's fun and challenging to convert people online. You have to be convincing, strategic, and on top of the social/news trend. Believe me this work wears you out. There's not a moment you could rest and stop learning. At the same time it's immensely fun.

This year the challenge is tremendous. We have a goal to shift our fundraising more digital, and yet we are asking for donations when people are struggling to live comfortably. There are a lot of changes internally to transition. It's hard.

Sometimes I do feel like I am growing further away from my goal but I am still taking on relevant work to prepare myself to do global work in the future.

I went on counseling 2 times this year. It helped. The counselor encouraged me to ask myself what I want and if I am achieving it. It sets me on track.

Patience is everything.

To keep a relationship with a Spanish partner

I wonder how COVID19 is impacting long distance relationships.

For us, I am in a super strict country that still quarantines everyone from abroad for 14 days even though we have no confirmed cases for more than a month. Emilio is in one of the most severely impacted countries, and he actually is in Madrid where things were bad.

We talk everyday, though. When Spain was in lockdown, we set goals for our relationship that we can keep ourselves motivated. He is learning English and trying on Chinese (oh well), and I am learning Spanish.

I always love languages and am actually good at learning it so for me it's a goal I can easily follow through. I signed up for an excellent online Spanish course, where there are virtual teachers who would call your name in class to read things aloud and even chat with you. I can stay at home and be in my pajamas, and talk to the classmates and teachers I will never meet. I can choose any convenient timing for myself, and give feedback to teachers on questionnaires. It's great!

Emilio is using online apps and listening to podcasts. Thankfully the pandemic didn't stop any of these and even added more content to all materials we consume online.

We also set up a website where we write about health and wellness. Eventually I am hoping to sell some Taiwanese goodies especially tea to Spain, so whereever we choose to be later on we have a viable economic model for the one that cannot work in another country. At least that's how I hoped so far. It's still experimental.

Certainly the pandemic make us all more resilient, and patient. Setting goals is a good way to keep ourselves motivated and aware that we don't have to just sit and wait. There are things we can do on self-growth, relationships, and staying healthy. I certainly went through some ups and downs. But here I am sharing my experiences. What's yours? :)