Summary

The author describes their journey of revising life plans due to personal health issues, the pandemic, and political unrest, ultimately finding contentment in their current situation despite not meeting initial goals.

Abstract

The author outlines three iterations of their life plan, starting with ambitious academic and career goals set between 2020 and 2022, including completing a master's thesis, moving to LA, buying an apartment, and earning six figures. However, personal health challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted these plans. The author then pivoted to Plan B, which involved starting a digital marketing business and pursuing an MBA in Europe, but the pandemic also impacted this plan. Plan C, which included migrating to a new country, was also thwarted by personal health risks and political instability in their home country. Eventually, the author adopted a more modest approach, focusing on survival and acknowledging the success of running a business during challenging times, which provides a decent income and accommodates their health needs.

Opinions

The author expresses a sense of achievement in starting a business amidst a pandemic, despite it not reaching the intended scale.
There is an acknowledgment that personal health and global crises can significantly alter life plans and that this is an experience shared by many.
The author emphasizes that current achievements, even if they fall short of original ambitions, are still valuable and sufficient.
There is a recognition that survival and adapting to circumstances is a legitimate and commendable approach to life during times of crisis.
The author suggests that societal expectations of success should be re-evaluated in the context of global challenges, such as a pandemic.

The Audacity to Give Up

Stop persevering

Created in Canva Pro by author using design by AgataCreate

My Future Plan

2020 — Graduate from a masters program in Gender Studies
2021 — Move to LA and enrol in UCLA’s PhD program for political sciences
By 2022 — Buy a small apartment and make 6-figures with online coaching and digital marketing services

I have done…none of the above. Things haven’t really been falling into place.

I had to drop out of my master's program, where I was working on a thesis titled ‘Female Characters in Western Speculative Fiction: Reconstructing Gender Perceptions?’ Which was so unbelievably cool because I was literally reading Harry Potter and watching Avengers for school!

Instead of completing my thesis, I was busy getting three surgeries in the span of a year. And once that was done, we were so deep in the Pandemic it just made no sense to go back to school.

So, I took a deep breath and crafted plan B.

Plan B

2020 — Start an online service-based business (started a digital marketing company)
2021 — Scale said business & go to business school in Europe
By 2022 — Graduate and keep scaling or start on a new venture if it makes sense

I have done…some of that I guess. I did start a business at the end of 2020. It wasn’t completely new, because I’d already been working as a freelancer in marketing for a few years. But I had never scaled.

Suddenly, I had more clients than I could handle, a full calendar, staff to manage, and results to produce. It was all going according to plan, I even got accepted into one of the top business schools in Europe.

And then…nothing. The pandemic forced so many businesses to cut costs and marketing was one of the first few to go. My calendar was no longer booked out, my company dwindled down to me and less than a handful of staff.

And my health was too precarious for me to risk moving to another country during the pandemic. Plan B went down the toilet too.

Alright, deep breaths. Plan C.

Plan C

2021 — The situation in my home country is out of control. Time to officially migrate and get a PR somewhere else.
2022 — Start building a life in a new place, attend networking events and grow your agency. Make new friends, date. Do everything you missed out on because of your health and the pandemic.

Do I even need to elaborate? I did not move to a new country. The political situation in my country continues to worsen and I keep digging myself into a deeper hole of despair.

Survive

That’s it. That’s the new plan. My business is nowhere near where I wanted it to be in 2022. But you know what? I started a whole business in the middle of a freaking pandemic.

It makes me enough, that I am earning 6x more than the average graduate salary in my country. It gives me the flexibility I need with the health issues I have. And it is enough for now.

At 24 years old — this is not what failure looks like despite what my brain would have me believe. And I’m not the only one.

Whatever you’re doing right now is enough. Even if someone else seems to be doing better and achieving more — you are still doing enough. You’re alive, you’re doing your best despite a global crisis.

We’re functioning even as the world around us feels like it's been lit on fire. We are functioning as we mourn the lives we’ve lost and the dreams we have buried.

And it is enough.