Surviving harsh economic conditions

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In life sometimes you will be exposed to difficult situations. The main shortfall of our education system is that, we are trained to be good enough for a job. When you fail to get one because of an economic crisis, the odds of success may become small. If a country is not producing enough, most goods will be imported into the country making it difficult to create employment. Surviving harsh economic conditions is one of the most daunting tasks you can ever face.

Few years ago, after graduation I was actively looking for a job without getting any. The economic conditions were harsh. The country was importing almost everything including the basic goods. Many companies were closing and the few companies remaining were restructuring. As a result, many people were retrenched, and they could not find new jobs. However, the universities did not stop producing more graduates. Many young men including myself were roaming the streets without having anything to do.

Moreover, many of us were depressed because our only hope of going out of the poverty cycle was shuttered. I lost my self-esteem and each time I found myself with nothing to do, I became more bitter towards myself and the government. Somehow my relatives and neighbors were under the impression that I was not searching hard enough for jobs. I became a burden to my relatives because I did not have anything to contribute to the family. This is the time that changed my life and I started questioning the things I always believed to be true. Each time I was meditating on my future, I would get a lot of ideas to help my community but I did not have money to materialize any project. The more I struggled, the more I started having an insatiable desire to be a great person.

How to thrive in harsh economic conditions

Identifying the source of the problem

The most important thing to do if you find yourself in this situation is to identify the source of the problem. Stress is not a problem but a side effect of something happening to you. It is a mechanism that is used by your body to copy with a situation whether good or bad.

Furthermore, one of the most difficult things you will have to do is to accept the situation. Make it known to you that the situation can even get worse but eventually everything will be fine. You must know that you may not be able to change the situation at all but you can thrive in it. Instead of blaming the things you will never change, find ways to adjust yourself to cope with the difficult situation.

This is the time you need to have faith. Faith will tell you that your situation will improve. It is much easier when you believe in God because it will give you a good feeling that you have a great purpose to do in life. Faith without works is dead, therefore you also need to believe that whatever you have faith in, you have the will to do it.

Be involved in voluntary work

What you really need from a job is not necessarily money only but a sense of self-worthy. You need to do something that makes you feel relevant. What I understand about money is that if you add value to the society, it will follow you as a compensation.

There are several ways to do voluntary work. You can tutor the subjects you are good at for free or do voluntary work at the clinic or any humanitarian work. The time you spend doing voluntary work can be the antidote for stress. Looking for voluntary work to do will help you to get experience and personal satisfaction. This has a way of changing the way you perceive about life. You will start to understand the problems in the society and it will activate your desire to solve them.

Cutting on spending

One of the sources of depression is the failure to manage your money. For tips on managing money, read the post on how to build a habit of saving and investing . When you do not have a source of income, you need to have a very strict budget. These are some of the ways you can use to cut costs:

• Stay with your family until you start earning income.
• If you do not have a family close to you, consider renting a cheaper apartment in the high-density suburbs or find a friend to share an apartment with.
• Buy most of your basics from the vendors and cheap supermarkets. Local brands are often cheaper than exported brands. In addition, vendors are more interested in a quick turnover for their stock because of limited storage.
• Capitalize on wholesale prices by buying in bulk. You can do this by buying the basic things together with your friends at wholesale prices.
• Use cheaper ways of communication.
• Buy important things when they are on promotion. Check out for special deals that may be offered throughout the year. If possible, buy winter clothes in summer and summer clothes in winter.
• Do not travel during the holidays because transport is expensive at that time.

Apply for a driver’s license and a passport

If you do not have a passport or a licence, make it a goal to apply for those documents. Getting a passport will broaden your labor market. You can try to apply for jobs in other countries or apply for post graduate study abroad. A driver’s licence is very important because the earlier you get one, the cheaper will be your insurance when you buy a car.

Start projects that do not require a lot of capital

Furthermore, use the free time you have to explore new projects. Innovation is a key to surviving unemployment in a dying economy. You can consider small projects such as:

• Poultry keeping
• Tutoring
• Gardening

Keep the value of money

If you are in a country that is experiencing a financial crisis with currency losing value, for an unemployed graduate, this may be a very big challenge to overcome. When you manage to earn some money, you can save the money in a stable currency (provided it is legal in your country to do so). If this option is not viable, make sure you put your money in income generating assets so that your money will not be wiped away by inflation. You can buy livestock like cattle or chicken as a way of keeping the value of your money.

In a nutshell, surviving harsh economic conditions is very difficult and you may find yourself in depression. Do you know that a stressed human brain is more innovative than a happy one? Never lose hope!