As the coronavirus reached peak levels earlier this year, my 65-year-old mother—like millions of others across the globe—was forced to make abrupt changes in order to meet the demands of her job safely and effectively.

In addition to donning protective gear, she needed to quickly learn Zoom, Slack and other platforms she had never used before to ensure the elderly residents she served in an assisted living center could communicate with their families.

My mother was a tech-challenged baby boomer who had to quickly assume the social media habits of the digitally savvy Generation Z, roughly 40 years her junior. With that, she became part of a new investment landscape that has proven more complex than many of us realize.

While the sheer force and disruptive nature of coronavirus has sparked explosive growth in many expected ways, such as the surge in streaming and online grocery services, it has complicated the landscape in other, unexpected ways. In addition, it has given the impression it is fueling certain lifestyle changes that have, in fact, been gaining momentum for years.

Why does this matter for investors? It matters because if the pandemic is not viewed in the proper context, it hampers our ability to see how our lives are actually evolving, and to identify a world of opportunities, growth drivers and emerging trends that go far beyond Netflix and Zoom video.

It would be a mistake to view the pandemic as the main accelerant defining our course—or to assume its trajectories take conventional paths. There are demographic changes causing cross-generational identify shifts, such as the one experienced by my mother. There are new intersections of e-commerce, entertainment, education, healthcare, technology and personal growth that are redefining our relationships with our co-workers, families, households and, ultimately, ourselves.

We are all quite familiar by now with the new work-from-home (WFH) trends as they relate to our consumption of digital and virtual technologies, many of which were fueled by quarantining and social distancing requirements.

But distinct from that surge are countless growth areas characterized by increasingly expansive consumer behaviors. This is a much broader “connected consumer” category that includes companies providing products and technology focused on growing consumer capacities in home entertainment, online education, remote health and well-being, and virtual and digital social interaction.

This group includes the soaring popularity of social media platforms, much of which was triggered long before Covid-19. On the entertainment front, it includes companies offering streaming services, gaming and e-sports, which also were experiencing healthy growth before the pandemic boosted their sales.

They represent long-term trends that began before the pandemic and are likely to continue long after. In the same way my mother is likely a lifetime Slack user, my brother-in-law, a big wrestling fan, is not likely to entirely shelve the Zoom events he holds with his friends to watch World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. pay-per-view programs just because the pandemic loosens its grip.

The group also reflects the dramatic rise in online education services we saw when 91% of students worldwide experienced school shutdowns due to the pandemic, as UNESCO reported. But online learning is a long-established growth market in Asia and other regions that begun accelerating in the U.S. in recent years, as I know personally from having completed my MBA in 2015 partially online. The global digital education market is expected to grow from $8.4 billion this year to $33.2 billion in 2025, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.4%, according to Dublin market research firm, Research and Markets.

With remote health and well-being, the most nascent theme in some respects, we can see the rise of companies providing access to virtual healthcare services and wellness experiences. Telemedicine has seen dramatic growth and shows signs it’s poised for more growth—it’s forecast to expand by 64.3% this year, according to Frost & Sullivan.

I was introduced recently to the convenience of telemedicine when I scheduled an appointment for a minor consultation over Zoom—and received the care I needed without the hassle of a waiting room or crowded subway commute. I’m not likely to resume my pre-pandemic doctor’s office routine just because my doctor does. That industry is expected to reach a CAGR of 38.2% by 2025.

This category is also defined by the growth in companies like Peloton, which has been redefining the workout business model since 2012 with its online fitness classes. I bought my first Peleton bike in early 2018, and a second soon after, and plan to continue using them for years to come.

As investors, it’s beneficial to view the WFH and “connected consumer” trends as separate, but complementary trajectories. Otherwise, we could miss opportunities or overlook signs of change if we act on an oversimplified understanding of our transforming landscape. Tech stocks have done well and show signs they will continue to generate returns, but that doesn’t mean we should lose sight of emerging companies that aren’t part of the coveted FAANG circle.

In some cases, we may need to look for developments that lurk below the surface with technology that isn’t visible to the consumer. Twilio, for example, has seen its business rapidly expand with its technology enabling phones and messaging to be embedded into web, desktop and mobile software.

So, what will our future look like? We don’t know how we will spend our free time, consume information, or engage with our peers years from now. But we do know we hold vast potential for change, capable of assuming new identifies and forming complex relationships with the world around us. Many don't want to accept the new “normal.” It’s possible our new “normal” has yet to arrive.

David Mazza is managing director and head of product at ETF provider Direxion.