I wanted to kickstart my investing and money growth habits this month, but for the first time, I failed dismally.

It’s not hard to know why. Because of COVID-19 coronavirus. 

The situation had worsened in Singapore, with a second larger wave of infections coming in, mostly from imported cases of Singaporeans returning home. The false lull of stability at the start of the month gave way to increasingly stricter measures at the end. While we’re not technically in lockdown, it does begin to feel like it. Our borders are totally closed to all foreigners. The aviation industry is dead. Non-essential services like entertainment venues, bars, cinemas are closed. Safe distancing protocols had been legalised, with gatherings not more than 10 people. People are advised to stay home, and reduce all non-essential travel, meetings, catch-ups. 

The bubble of safety had burst. To date there’s more local cases and community spread, even though the numbers seem to be controlled, but still higher than the first wave. It feels like we got a little too complacent by our stellar performance fighting the first wave of infections, that now the general population are a little too comfortable. Not many are taking the safe distancing advisories seriously enough, and still far too many are out and about, and closer together than they should. 

Who would have known….

And in such times, best to hunker down and keep calm at home. And give yourself permission to be totally unproductive, as like my goals for Moolah March.

But even though my original goals for Moolah March withered away, I did do other things. Things that are meaningful and apt for the times. 

Like this listing site Tools For COVID19. It’s a directory of tools and resources for small-medium businesses to weather through COVID19, by quickly innovating new service/product offerings. Another way I thought I could help was to offer my skills for COVID-related efforts, to help them build websites to get word out on their good work. And amongst other little things done - first cross post for a keto blog coming up, went to my first keto meetup, sent off a proposal for a huge consultancy project.

The month felt like months to be honest. But letting go of plans, and giving in to doing what makes sense, what’s meaningful, following my energy, seems to have helped loads. Exerting a sense of control by contributing my skills to help fight the pandemic was one way. Maintenance work, just keeping things going, gave some sense of normalcy.

I feel like I’m done with 2020, but it’s only just begun. Definitely need to find a new way forward in April. Something that help me last the journey ahead. Who knows how long the lockdown measures will persist…