The Covid-19 pandemic has touched all our lives in different ways, no matter which country you are reading this from. Apart from the direct health impacts of the virus it has also hit the global economy and impacted negatively on livelihoods. In this article I want to give an update on the pandemic from an Irish perspective and share what I have been up to since January 2021. I am working to use this time in lockdown to create goal success and I want to share my key tips on making the most of this time in lockdown.

World’s highest infection rate

On 30th December 2020 Ireland, where I live, went into full lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All non-essential shops closed. All pubs, restaurants, hair salons etc. closed. All sporting and music events stopped. People are required to work from home if possible, and exercise not more than 5km from their homes.

What happened was that we had a surge of Covid-19 infections over the Christmas period. At one point in January we had the world’s highest infection rate of Covid-19. Infection rates rose sharply from what was the lowest incident rate of Covid in the European Union in early December. As of Friday 5th March 2021 according to Irish government statistics there have now been 4,357 deaths of people with COVID-19 in Ireland. My thoughts go to the families of those who have passed away, to those who are still in hospital and to those who are still recovering from this terrible virus.

There are signs that things are starting to improve. Thankfully the lockdown has worked and infection rates and deaths are coming down now and restrictions will likely be eased in April. We also have our vaccination programme being rolled out to the most vulnerable. The weather is also getting better as we head into spring which is another reason for optimism!

My lockdown Project

My aim to use use this time in lockdown to create goal success. Since January I have been working on a new online course on beekeeping. This will be my 6th online course and I am really enjoying developing the course. When I made my first online course in 2017 it was a very steep learning curve to get the sound quality and video quality right. I hadn’t a clue how to edit videos. By now I am getting into the swing of things and I find it is much easier to develop a video lecture. However, there is still a huge amount of work to be done in developing a course. The course structure and content has to be right to start with. My object is to make this course a top quality course which will help people start their first hive of bees. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to teach people using an online learning platform.

No permission needed

I taught beekeeping at Baraka Agricultural College in Kenya for over 10 years. Having attained my PhD in beekeeping in 2012, I always wanted to teach beekeeping to students at a university. However there are not many opportunities to do so. Particularly in a country like Ireland where the weather is not very conducive to commercial beekeeping (it rains a lot here!). Now, using the world wide web I can teach beekeeping to the world! For example my current course ‘Background to Beekeeping’ has 840 students from 81 countries. I enjoy interacting with beekeeping students from all over the world. One really important point to remember when we want to do something is that we don’t need anyone’s permission to do it. I just made and launched the course. I did not wait for anyone to tell me that I had their permission or that I was good enough.

After Action Review

In my new course I have 22 lectures completed out of 79 so far (nearly 30% of the course done). I still have a long way to go but I am making steady progress with my lockdown goal. I do love when I have a clear focus on a key goal. Right now I am writing this article on Saturday and on Saturdays I usually complete an After Action Review (AAR). I review the past week and plan the week ahead. As part of my AAR I also take time to review my goals. Today I am going to set a realistic target launch date for the new course. Ideally I want to launch the new course by the end of April. So loads of work to do over the coming weeks!

What about you?

How about you – do you have an all consuming engaging goal that you are working on? Especially if you are in lockdown like me you can use the lockdown to create goal success. Do you have a goal that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning? Do you have something that you have a burning desire to do or achieve? Perhaps you have been waiting for someone’s approval or permission to do something?

My first piece of advice is to choose yourself. Give yourself permission to do whatever you feel drawn to do. My second piece of advice is don’t wait. We are already in March and the first quarter of 2021 is nearly over. Make a start right now. If you are not sure what you want to focus on then please check out my course: Goal Setting 2021: Set & Achieve Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals. Do the course, get clear on your key goals and then go for it! Life is fun when we have a clear goal that we are working towards. Time in lockdown can certainly be put to good use to create goal success.

Best wishes,

Tom