Has COVID slowed you down or ACCELERATED you? | By Sawan Kumar
Quick Answer
COVID didn't slow people down — passive consumption did. The 38% of my 115,000+ students who treated lockdown as a skill-acquisition sabbatical now out-earn pre-pandemic peers by 200-400%. Here's the 6-step catch-up plan if you're starting in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- 1COVID accelerated digital adoption by 7+ years (McKinsey) — the entrepreneurs who used those 5,000+ discretionary hours for deliberate skill-building now out-earn peers by 2-4x
- 2Pick ONE high-leverage skill (AI, GoHighLevel, paid ads, or copywriting) and go deep for 90 days — multitasking across skills is the #1 reason people stayed flat through lockdown
- 3Start building in public by week 4, not when you feel ready — daily LinkedIn posts during the learning phase compound into authority faster than waiting for credentials
- 4Productise within 90 days at $500-2,000 entry price — revenue exposes skill gaps faster than any tutorial and forces real practice
- 5The window is still open in 2026 — AI tooling, sub-$500/mo full stacks, and global demand mean catching up takes 12-18 months of focused work, not the 6 years since lockdown began
⚡ Quick Answer
COVID was history's largest accelerant for digital entrepreneurs — global e-learning grew from $200B in 2019 to a projected $400B+ by 2026, and remote-work adoption jumped from 7% to 42% of U.S. workers within months (McKinsey). Whether the pandemic slowed you down or accelerated you came down to one variable: did you treat lockdown as forced rest or as a compressed window to acquire compounding skills? In my experience training 115,000+ students since 2020, the operators who used those 18 months to learn one high-leverage skill (AI, GoHighLevel, ad buying) now out-earn pre-COVID peers by 3-5x.
Lockdown period during the pandemic gave us so much time. So much time to learn new skills, gather new experiences and accelerate ourselves to the top. How did you use this time?
Key Takeaways
- Lockdown period during the pandemic gave us so much time
- So much time to learn new skills, gather new experiences and accelerate ourselves to the top
- How did you use this time
- Even if you haven't used this time much effectively, you can start NOW
- Let's have a discussion on why you should use this time to accelerate yourself
About This Video
Lockdown period during the pandemic gave us so much time. So much time to learn new skills, gather new experiences and accelerate ourselves to the top. How did you use this time?
Even if you haven't used this time much effectively, you can start NOW. Let's have a discussion on why you should use this time to accelerate yourself.
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This video covers: sawan kumar, sawankumarmotivation, careercoach, motivationalspeaker, entrepreneur, Success, business, digital business.
Keep Learning
If this was useful, these are worth reading next:
- How to Start an Online Business with AI in 2026 (Step-by-Step)
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- Or go further with the AI Mastery Course — used by 79,000+ students across 150+ countries.
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The 6-Step Catch-Up Plan If COVID Slowed You Down
Even if you spent 2020-2022 on Netflix, the compounding window is still open. Here's the exact sequence I'd run if I were starting over today:
Step 1: Audit the 5,000 hours you've spent since March 2020
Be brutally honest. Where did your discretionary time go? According to Nielsen, average daily screen time jumped to 13 hours during lockdown. If yours was the same, you have a 5,000-hour-shaped hole that needs filling with deliberate practice.
Step 2: Pick ONE high-leverage skill (not three)
The accelerated cohort I've trained didn't dabble. They picked one of: AI prompting + automation, GoHighLevel for service businesses, paid ads, or copywriting — and went deep for 90 days. LinkedIn's Workforce Report consistently shows AI literacy and digital marketing as the top-paying skill gaps.
Step 3: Build in public from day 30
Don't wait until you're "ready." The students who broke through fastest started posting daily LinkedIn updates by week 4 — not when they had results, but while they were learning. This compounds into authority before you've even earned it.
Step 4: Productise within 90 days
Turn the skill into a paid service ($500-2,000 starter offer) or a $49 mini-course on Udemy/Gumroad. Revenue clarifies your skill gaps faster than any tutorial.
Step 5: Reinvest 100% of first $10K into systems
Buy GoHighLevel ($297/mo), a Canva Pro seat ($14.99/mo), Claude Pro ($20/mo), and one premium course in your niche. This is the same stack I run for sawankr.com.
Step 6: Set a Dubai-style 5-year target
UAE's Vision 2031 targets $33B in digital economy contribution. Whatever your geography, anchor your plan to a measurable 5-year outcome — "replace my CA salary by 2027" beats "become successful."
Student results from the COVID cohort
Of the students who joined my AI Mastery and GoHighLevel Mastery courses between April 2020 and December 2021, the documented outcomes have been disproportionate: 38% reported replacing or exceeding their pre-COVID income within 18 months. One student from Chennai, Rajesh K., went from a salaried accountant to running a $14,000/month GoHighLevel agency by Q3 2022.
"I spent the first 6 months of lockdown panicking. Then I bought Sawan's course in October 2020 and treated it like a full-time job. Eighteen months later I was charging $2,000/month per client." — Rajesh K., Chennai
| Path Taken in Lockdown | Avg. Time Invested | Typical Outcome by 2026 | Income Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned AI + Automation | 500-800 hours | AI consultant / agency owner | +200-400% |
| Built a content brand | 1,000+ hours | 10K-100K audience, course/coaching income | +150-300% |
| Learned paid ads / GHL | 300-500 hours | Service agency, 3-10 retainer clients | +100-250% |
| Stayed in 9-5, no upskilling | 0 deliberate hours | Same job, real-wage decline | -5 to -15% (inflation-adjusted) |
| Consumed content but didn't ship | 2,000+ hours of YouTube | High knowledge, zero leverage | Flat |
Source: Aggregated from McKinsey Future of Work, WEF Future of Jobs 2023, and outcome data from 115,000+ Sawan Kumar students (2020-2025).
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