2020
It's the trying times that bring out the best in us
For many of us, personally, professionally and all other -ally’s this year has been one to forget, to relegate to the recycle bin and right click on the empty all option. But, for me 2020 represents a year in which I’ve been able to turn things round. A year that in many ways, I have grown and been able to make positive changes in my life, some of which I’ve been trying to make for a long, long time. So reflecting on this abysmal year — what about it have I been able to make work for me?
Not having an excuse for not having enough time. Working from home has given me a greater ability to control my daily routine this year and also save time and money on things like travelling into and back from the office.
As a result, I’ve been able to exercise more — running over 1,000 km this year (from not more than a 100 km in 2019). The psychological nudge of needing to get out of the house on a daily basis has also certainly helped. It also helps here to have an overarching driver, a sort of back up motivator to get out -incase being locked in all day and having free time gets overridden by for example, bad weather. Set goals to run a marathon on x date and also take active action to mitigate all the potential excuses that may keep you from getting out. Too cold? then buy appropriate warm sportswear. Injured? Do an alternative exercise.
I’ve also been able to cook and bake more. Dinner is now a shared responsibility and this has improved my relationship with my wife — it's also a great way to unwind from work — a good podcast on and prepping dinner is a new kind of escape at the end of the day — beats a glass of wine in my books !
More time to reflect. Almost as a by-product of having a more controlled and refined routine I’ve been able to create time in the morning, evening and on a weekly basis to reflect. This can be done through some quiet alone time. Reflection is a really important tool in helping to piece together the experiences in our day or week and drawing connections between these experiences to see the strategic whole. I find that running is a great time to reflect for me — but any quiet alone time will work. Reading a book for 30 mins before bed, doing yoga, praying or, as I am doing now, writing a blog or keeping a journal. What’s gone well? What could go better? how do different activities and things I am doing in my life interrelate to help me be the person I want to be and achieve the things I am setting out to achieve?
Focus. More control over routine coupled with introspection through reflection has resulted in a year where I’ve been able to bring a laser focus to achieving the objectives and goals that I had set for myself. I had a great year at work, recorded a whole season of episodes for my own podcast and started an online business. Has it been plain sailing without things going wrong? Of course not. But have I learnt a great deal from doing it that will benefit me going forward ? Hell yes.
Realising who’s important in your life. This has always been difficult for me, as I tend to always see the best in everyone and always have something to gain from others - a different perspective than my own, learning from the different experiences they are going through in their life or the issues that they may be struggling with. I’m not oblivious to the old adage that as you grow older you have to become more selfish about who you invest your time in… in a sense at some point you need people around you to be enriching your life at least enough as you are enriching theirs.
This requires a change in mindset, which I found challenging in the past. What helped me this year is being able to give myself enough credit to consider myself as the most important person in my life. This is an especially difficult change in perspective if you’ve always put others before yourself. What made me change my perspective is the answer to the following question; if you don’t treat your own self with love and respect and help yourself first how can you expect to effectively help others? Realising who’s important in your life is about identifying who gives you back at least as much as you able to give to them.
Embracing change. If this year has taught me anything is that if we are to thrive in the manner in which we live our lives in an ever changing world, then our ability to be open to and adapt to change is a key differentiator in whether we succeed or not. We’ve all have to do this through the year; wearing masks, social distancing, planning groceries to ensure we have the essentials covered.
But how about the bigger changes? Is living in the city right for my family and I? Am I in the right career to cope with another systemic shock? Am I healthy enough to be able to cope with it all — both mentally and physically? This year has required us to re-evaluate and question the status-quo . I’ve been able to embrace uncertainty to drive the positive changes I was seeking in my life. Buying my first place and understanding what a real sense of responsibility it is to run a household. Using my extra time to improve my health and well-being and starting endeavours I had been putting off. Is the fear of embracing uncertainty and change holding you back? What are you going to do about it ?
It’s that word again, resilience. The year has been a masterclass in grit and determination. To keep on trying to do the right thing, with integrity and a resolute, dogged drive to get to an end result that you are proud and satisfied with. Sustaining the positive changes I’ve been able to achieve and implement this year will, I know require grit and determination — especially as things inevitability change again. I doubt we will ever go back to ‘how things were’ but the next year and next phase of my life will require me to apply many of the principles I’ve outlined above, as well as new ones which will be brought about by the circumstances of that specific point in time.
We’ve made it this far because of our ingenuity as a species and our innate and strong will to adapt and survive. Things are only likely to get tougher as we look to right the wrongs of the past few centuries. But there’s so much of promise in the technological innovations and feats we’ve been able to achieve so far and will continue to do so in the future. A commercially viable electric car, a seismic shift from our dependence on oil to renewables, our sequencing of the genome, bio-tech that has allowed us to create a vaccine in response to a deadly virus in record time, the power of artificial intelligence and future possibilities to integrate humans and computers — oh and lets not forget about the exploration of space and the worlds beyond our own.
I’m certainly looking back at this momentous year as a launchpad for better things to come — I hope that we can reflect on the lessons we’ve learnt from 2020 and the things about ourselves and how we choose to live that we have had to change as a result of such an unusual and unprecedented year.
I, like you, thought this was a year that maybe we want to wipe off our drive, clear the history and forget ever happened. But maybe this year can be remembered instead as the year that we changed for good. Became stronger, smarter and more resolute about working together to create a world that we would be proud of leaving for future generations to come. Are you ready for 2021? I certainly am !
