The year 2020 is now to a close and many all of us are ready for a new year, a fresh start, and somehow a new beginning amidst the stresses of a pandemic, the grief of losing loved ones not just to COVID-19, but to cancer, old age, and tragedy. 2020 brought us immense challenges to everyone of us. Our lives have been uprooted since March of 2020 by the Coronavirus resulting in our whole world turned upside down, inside out, and put us in a whole new orientation of life.
Nearly all parts of our lives have been affected. We have lost jobs due to work places shutting down, but some have had to move to work from home in their makeshift offices while having to also in a matter of days become their children’s teacher and becoming an expert in technologies like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
We haven’t hugged or seen our family members or loved ones in such a long time.
We are tired and exhausted and ready for the normal before the “new” normal.
Through all this though I think it’s imperative and essential to not persist in the doom and gloom of 2020 and all of it’s difficulties and despair. Through all this, we should strive to leave 2020 behind in a spirit of gratefulness and enter into 2021 with hope and expectation.
In this post I’m paying tribute to what I’m thankful for and who has been a steady influence and encouragement to me through the year and share with you the achievements and celebrations that 2020 has afforded me.
A Life Plan
Probably the thing I am proudest of is the fact that I now have almost an entire life plan. It’s been a long time coming. The fear and uncertainty I’ve felt in past years had prevented me from writing mine. The pandemic has given me new impetus to plan my years, decide what’s important to me and help me say no to the drift and say yes to intentional design.
2020 taught me to quit making excuses and get it done.
Developing My Achievement Muscle
For the better part of 2020, I have been meeting with a man I met at Tribe Conference by Jeff Goins as part of an accountability/brainstorming session every week on Saturday mornings. We are both users of the Full Focus Planner and so we share our weekly big three and wins for the week. We only meet for 30 minutes over Zoom.
More than anything I think has been the best part of 2020. I have been and have become so much more consistent in using my planner, putting myself toward a direction and just being more organized and intentional about life.
If I showed you my Full Focus Planner, you’d see dog-eared pages. These are the pages where the weekly preview occurs. For me it’s a testament to the fact that I am putting reps in to build my achievement muscle.
Employment
While many people suffered with downsizing, a reduction in force, and being made to work from home I have been able to celebrate the fact that I largely kept my part time job working in a quick service restaurant and my income hasn’t suffered very much. Much more, I gained a client in my side business. And, to make matters even better, I did land a short term gig as a junior Facebook Ad Manager, an experience that was too short, but I learned so much about Facebook Advertising.
My wife even has enjoyed a blessing of not only staying employed but also getting a new job through all this where she is working from home and getting paid much more than she was at the other job. For her, I think it’s been great because she learned how to negotiate salary and earn more than what she was offered.
New Relationships
In 2020 I can celebrate the fact that I have gained quite a few new relationships since moving to the Cincinnati, OH region.
For instance, my wife and I are part of a church plant in the area and we have become fairly close to the key players in the team.
For me personally, I have found new relationships in the marketing industry in various verticals, like agencies, legal, and brand. I am fortunate that I’ve connected with some real heavyweights in the industry and the region.
Since I’ve just joined the American Marketing Association, Cincinnati Chapter, I’m expecting to grow my network and relationships even more through participation.
Conclusion
Yes, 2020 has been, to say the least, unique and special. All of us, the entire human race, has endured trials beyond our wildest dreams or expectations. Through it all, however, we have persevered and made it to 2021.
I’m grateful for the year and the many lessons we all have learned and the experiences we’ve been given, even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
I’ve been grateful for finally creating my life plan, for sustained employment, the growth of my achievement muscle, and for new relationships in a new region.
Now it’s your turn
Even though 2020 has been tough for all of us, what are you most grateful for? Let us know in the comments below.
