How to professionally reinvent yourself during a crisis

One of my most loyal Instagram followers, who lives in Ecuador, wrote to me to tell me that she was going to lose her job due to the coronavirus crisis. The school where she teaches sports and swimming will remain closed until the next school year, and the director decided to lay off the teachers until then.

Naturally, she went into a state of stress and crisis because she has a family and responsibilities that she cannot avoid. To help her, I offered a one-hour call, which turned into two, and we had a long conversation about what I call a period of "Organized Chaos." At the end of the call, she asked me to share this with you all so that more people could benefit from this method, which has helped me countless times during my own life crises. Planning for periods of chaos has allowed me to reduce anxiety and stress levels and view crises more objectively, enabling me to take action.

How to Organize Your Life in Times of Crisis

What is Organized Chaos?

When I talk about chaos, I’m referring to those periods in our lives when it seems like everything is turning upside down, everything is failing, everything feels like it’s working against us, and we feel as if we are in the eye of the storm—or at least that we are running at full speed because a life crisis is right behind us.

In general, we can foresee when a period of chaos is approaching, and if we pay attention to our reality, we can prepare to handle it with a sense of calm.

Organized or planned chaos is precisely a difficult period lived with the tranquility of someone who has prepared for battle, following the saying, "Forewarned is forearmed." If you have the ability to see it coming, you also have the ability to organize yourself so that when the storm arrives, you can dance in the rain and experience this period with peace of mind, knowing that your basic needs are covered.

Clearly Define Your Goal

I know this is a difficult period. Generally, when we are about to enter a state of chaos, we first experience a phase of conflict, frustration, discouragement, and loss. But don’t worry—breathe, grab a pencil and paper, and clearly define what you want to change in your life or the goal you want to achieve.

Why do I always recommend using pencil and paper? Because it is part of the neurological and cognitive process that you need to initiate if you want to achieve your goal. Writing things down allows you to think about what you want, visualize it, read it, and repeat it in your mind—these are four essential mental reinforcements that help solidify your objective.

Start by making a list of what you want to achieve, and we will return to it once you have completed the chaos planning process that I explain in detail below. Try to be as specific as possible so that breaking down the steps to achieve it becomes easier.

• If you want to lose weight, specify how many kilos or clothing sizes.
• If you want to improve your relationship, include the aspects that you can work on (since you can’t control other people's behavior).
• If you want to find a job or start a business during or after the coronavirus crisis, describe what you want in detail and be realistic.

It is highly unlikely that you will be hired as CEO of a multinational company or launch a profitable business overnight. So, keep your feet on the ground, please!

Plan Your Finances

You might be wondering why plan your finances before your health, and the reason is very simple: a financial crisis in your life will not allow you to have good health or peace of mind during the months of chaos you are about to face. So, it’s best to start here to ensure stability.

Additionally, if you know that you will soon be out of work due to the coronavirus crisis or any other reason, it’s crucial to have a clear picture of your financial situation so that when the time comes, you already know where you stand.

When planning your finances, you need to consider several factors to determine exactly what resources you have to navigate your period of chaos. This is why your financial plan should be as detailed as possible.

What Should a Financial Plan for a Crisis Period Include?

1. A complete list of all your assets: This includes all your income sources (salary, bonuses, severance pay, unemployment benefits, dividends, interest, etc.), as well as any other form of money inflow for you and your family.
2. A complete list of your liabilities: This should detail all your debts, including mortgage, rent, transportation, fuel, electricity, water, phone, food, entertainment, gas, and don’t forget to include credit card interest, subscription costs, bank fees, and absolutely everything that represents a monthly expense. I recommend printing out your last three bank statements and reviewing them line by line to see your actual monthly expenses. You will likely be surprised at how many unnecessary costs you can cut with proper planning.
3. Subtract your total income from your total debts and expenses. At the very least, the result should be zero (0), meaning you can cover all your expenses with your monthly income.

At this point, you may realize that your balance is negative, and this is when you need to seriously reflect on your spending and investment habits to ensure you can remain financially stable during your chaos period.

If you find yourself in a severe financial shortfall, you may need to look for what is known in English as a "survival job"—a temporary job that covers your essential expenses. The key to managing a crisis period is maintaining mental peace and a clear head to face what’s ahead.

Now that you have a clear picture of your financial resources, calculate how many months you can live without working and compare that number with the months you need to reach your goal.

Prioritize your health



Let’s be clear about one thing: Without health, there is nothing! Without physical and mental health, you cannot work efficiently to achieve your goals. Whether you have fallen into unemployment, are currently out of work, have separated from your partner, or have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, your health must be your top priority.

A period of chaos in your life can easily lead to depression, burnout (employee burnout syndrome), damage your relationships, and even worse, harm yourself and your loved ones. That’s why you need to be well in order to move forward. On airplanes, they always say: "Make sure to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting the passenger next to you," and the same principle applies here.

You won’t be able to help others until you are physically and mentally well yourself. When you are in survival mode, your brain operates under such a high level of stress that it fails to see beyond the immediate crisis, even when opportunities are right in front of you. During a crisis period, you should aim to eat healthier, reduce processed foods, exercise your mind with 10 minutes of meditation, painting, crossword puzzles, or handwriting in a small personal journal to calm the flood of thoughts caused by stress. Additionally, include at least 30 minutes of daily walking or stair climbing to increase your heart rate and produce endorphins.

Make a List of Your Skills

In this part of your planning, you can use your resume to create a detailed list of all the courses, formal studies in various fields, and the things you have learned in the "university of life" that help solve problems. Include all the software programs you know how to use, as well as the things you can do as a hobby (e.g., baking bread or cakes, woodworking).



Separate them into categories according to their respective fields, for example:

1. Finance: Accounting books, preparing financial statements, budget management, professional degree in finance. Do you know how to file tax returns?
2. Communication: Writing articles, press releases, creative writing courses, public speaking, ability to speak in public, report creation, and anything related to communication.
3. Technology: Do you know how to program, use design and image editing software, create videos, manage Facebook Ads or Google Ads, Photoshop, WordPress, etc.? Include everything in this list.
4. Manual Work: Here, you should include all skills related to creating and repairing objects manually. Do you know how to sew, hem pants, sew buttons, or fix zippers? Do you have knowledge of plumbing, basic home repairs, electricity, painting? Do you work with clay, wood, glass, or any other material? If your thing is decoration, be sure to include everything you know in this area, such as making balloon sculptures, decorating events, etc.
5. Cooking: Are you an amateur chef and know how to make bread, cookies, cakes, granola, yogurt, or any other food that can be packaged for sale?
6. Education: Do you have the patience and communication skills to teach? Then include it in the list.

I think you’re getting the idea. Just as you conducted a detailed audit of your finances, you will also do the same with your knowledge and skills because now we will make another classification that will expand your horizons and vision.

Identify Your Transferable Skills



One of my clients came to me for guidance in her new career as a Coach. She had recently changed careers after going through a period of professional disorganization and had grown tired of what she had been doing up to that point. She thought she could only offer coaching sessions in 4 to 8-session programs because that was the theory she had learned in her coaching training; but she had forgotten one small detail: incorporating herself into her own business.

It turns out that my client was a successful lawyer, spoke English fluently, and was a highly accomplished athlete who had run several of the world’s biggest marathons, including the New York Marathon. Additionally, she had mentored various athletes in her community to help them start and improve their athletic performance.

As we worked on her business model, she realized that she had completely overlooked all the skills she had acquired in the past that could be transferred to her new career as an ontological coach. These skills allowed her to expand her range of services, the products she could offer to her clients, and even increase the number of target customers.

Now, go back to your previous list and identify which skills you can use in a new professional path and which skills you could monetize. As you can see, little by little, your plan is taking shape, you are getting to know yourself better, and you are adding value to your knowledge and experience.

Schedule Your Availability

Time is your most valuable resource, and that’s why you must use it wisely. This is especially true if you are about to enter a period of personal or professional chaos because that chaos has a deadline, after which you must be able to achieve your objective or at least a significant part of it. We all have the same 24 hours, but it is up to you to use them in the most efficient way.



When scheduling the time you "actually" have for your organized chaos project, you must consider the essential obligations in your life that you must fulfill no matter what: taking the kids to school, walking the dog twice a day, cooking, doing household chores, one hour of daily exercise, meditation, etc.

Create a schedule, just like in school. This way, you will know exactly how much time you have each day to achieve your goals. Is it 2 hours? 3, 5? Well, during that time, you should complete at least one important task that brings you closer to your objective. You must be strict about this, avoid distractions, and not get sidetracked by household chores. It’s very easy to start fixing something, doing laundry, or talking on the phone if you are not fully aware of the importance of your time.

I work on this page from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, four days a week, because it’s when I am fresh, rested, and at my most creative to get things done. After that, I start client meetings, appointments, accounting, and other business tasks for the next 4-6 hours.

At first, it’s a sacrifice, but in the end, it’s worth it because the progress becomes noticeable almost immediately. I recommend creating your schedule digitally so you can coordinate it on your phone and across all your devices. Google Calendar is excellent for this.

Acquire New Skills



At this point, you may have realized that your goals and ambitions have fallen a bit short compared to your skills. Therefore, I recommend acquiring the knowledge you need to reach your objective. Nowadays, there are millions of free online courses available on YouTube or websites like those of my esteemed mentors Miguel Trujillo, Vilma Nuñez, Gaby Castellanos, Facebook Blueprint, Moz, and many others. With the rise of technology, it is crucial to stay in constant learning mode and keep up with new trends in your field. That’s why I recommend dedicating 30 to 60 minutes daily to taking a course or watching tutorials to learn new skills that will bring you closer to your goal.

If your goal is to find a job, whether in the real world or the digital space, or to start an online business, I recommend browsing job listing websites to familiarize yourself with job titles you could apply for, the required skills, and relevant courses to acquire them. Also, check out salary ranges for each profession and the specific details you need to know about your desired job.

For the digital world, you can check Fiverr, Freelancer, We Work Remotely, or do a Google search for "online jobs" or "remote work." If you’re looking for a job in the real world, Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor are good places to start.

Create Your New Profile



You now have a clearer vision of your situation, your resources, the time you have available, what you need to learn, and where to look for solutions to your problems. Now you can create professional profiles targeted at the position or industry where you want to develop your career. Remember that the professional profile of a lawyer, which is usually more serious and structured, is not the same as that of a marketing creative or a developer. That’s why it’s important to research how the professional field operates for each role.

In the case of LinkedIn, you can use keywords in your profile to appear in searches conducted by HR recruiters. You can use the same technique on other remote work platforms. Avoid creating a profile that includes everything and listing all your skills in your CV, as this may overload it. Instead, only include those relevant to the job you’re seeking to avoid the mistake of appearing overqualified and not being considered for the position.

You can leverage tools like Canva, Unsplash, and Freepik to take advantage of free, royalty-free images they offer, as well as the thousands of templates for different needs that you can use to create a professional-quality resume. These tools can also be used to create digital products that you can sell or offer to your audience.

Now that you have a well-defined plan, you will have peace of mind when the crisis of your chaos period begins. In this post-COVID19 era, we will witness one of the most severe economic and social crises in history. But if you plan your chaos before the worst begins, you will be able to see things with a clear mind and avoid the anxiety and stress that come when things happen unexpectedly.

The first version of this article was written in 2021, and over time, we have seen how the global economic crisis has intensified.

If you know you’re going to lose your job, take action now! If you know you are in a conflict situation that is growing and growing, don’t wait for it to explode before planning your way out of it. If it’s a health issue, don’t wait for the doctor to give you an ultimatum before introducing healthier habits. And if you find this guide useful, share it with your friends so they can also plan their chaos.