We may not have seen COVID coming, but we knew when it arrived. Infection and mortality rates skyrocketed. Civil liberties were suspended. Media hysteria ensued.

We also knew what to do when COVID hit. Stay safe. Cut costs. Survive.

But what do we do now?

The obvious course of action is to keep surviving until we get through this, but when will that be exactly? When lockdown regulations are fully repealed? When the infection rate reverses? When every single person in the world has been vaccinated?

It's easy to spot a crisis, but it's a lot harder to tell when it's over because there's rarely an unambiguous cutoff point. Sometimes it only ends when we decide to move on.

The transition from crisis management to post-crisis management is always challenging because the former is deceptively addictive. All we have to do is get through today. But at some point we have to start preparing for tomorrow, otherwise we're unlikely to create the wealth, freedom and legacy we crave.

You may have valid reasons for not looking beyond the here and now. But if you're not ready to plan for the future, at least decide what it will take before you will be ready.