It Would be Easy to Generalize 2020 As a Year to Forget.
COVID, shut-downs, economic turmoil, isolation, social upheaval, division, unrest, and the list goes on. Rarely in history has the entire world been affected by the same thing at the same time. Everything I mentioned is part of life some where all the time, but not usually everywhere.
For many people, 2020 was the hardest year they’ve ever experienced. Who wouldn’t want to put it in the rearview mirror?
In some ways, yes, we all will put it behind us. No sense dwelling on the negative, right? But before you put it away….
2020 Provided a Unique Opportunity to Help You Live a Much Better Life in the Future.
It gave you a chance to stop and really assess life in a way that could be invaluable, and would have been difficult to do in any other time. We all make mistakes and errors in judgement as part of our normal learning process. Unfortunately, experience is in fact, an excellent teacher. It’s making the same mistakes over and over that we want to avoid.
Some of the most powerful errors we make in life are the subtle, little ones that accumulate to lead to major problems. This is where 2020 may have been a blessing for us because it gave us an opportunity to see where we are in some of the most important things in life that are constantly impacted by small day to day choices.
Here are some things to consider, before you prepare to move forward into 2021, that are all products of small consistent choices….
Your State of Health: COVID-19 brought the idea of health compromise into the forefront. The more compromised you are the scarier a pandemic is for you, and the more it will restrict your ability to engage in life. A high percentage of compromise (health issues) can be reversed through daily lifestyle and nutrition changes (just as most health compromise comes from small daily choices). Obviously, the older you are, and the more severe your issue, the harder it is to eradicate the issue, but it’s certainly worth trying. Not only because it will reduce the level of compromise, but also because it has a cascading effect on your life in terms of energy, productivity, and higher quality of life in general.
The State of Your Relationships: You likely know that I believe the two most important things for a thriving relationship are time and attention. 2020 created some opportunity for this, and also created some strain on this. One thing it clearly did was provide the opportunity to truly see how healthy your most important relationships are. If there was an increase in strife given the increase in time in close proximity, that is a sure sign that you need to get to work on the relationship. And before you bring up the idea that your partner has work to do too…recognize that it starts with you. Focus on what YOU can do…and one thing you cannot do is change anyone else. Ever. Working on yourself, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually is a good place to start, because the better you feel about you, the better you will be with others. The other area that may need some work is your interpersonal core competencies. This area of life skill plays a massive role in how effective you will be when it comes to the attention part of being together. These too are things you can address daily in small bites.
The State of Your Financial Health: If you work in an industry that was hit by the shutdowns, and the fear of exposure, it’s obvious you have to make some changes. Everyone has some measure of exposure to the economic impact, as ultimately what affects the consumer will affect every business in some way. The bigger picture things to consider are how prepared are you to be without income for a period of time? Is your income tied to one geographic location/area? Do you have more than one income stream to offset changes. Financial health is tied more to day-to-day choices than you may realize. There is an enormous amount I could suggest here, so I’ll just sum up by saying 2020 gave you a chance to see how your plan, or lack of one, was really working. Use that as a planning guide for 2021 and beyond.
These three things that I mentioned above are the major Circles in 3 Circles Living and also part of what I call the seven aspect of quality of life. The other four are intricately tied to the these three and are addressed through the growth process of this platform. Plan and execute for the purpose of improvement in these three spots and your 2021 will gradually get better in most ways that you can personally affect.
To Take It to an Even Higher Level, Here are a Few More Things to Reflect On as You Get Ready to Move Forward…
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Tackling new things brings excitement, growth, confidence, satisfaction, fun, and a whole lot of other good stuff. 2020 showed you how things can change in the blink of an eye, if you didn’t already have that clear in your perspective. Nothing is certain. Don’t wait to do things and try things.
What Can You Control and What Can’t You?
So much life gets wasted worrying about, and talking about, things we cannot control. Assess what in your life that brings you anguish that is completely out of your control. Then decide not to waste any time on lamenting that issue. Now, if it affects your life, and you cannot control it occurring, then you are responsible for figuring out what among the things you can do, will help you mitigate the stress of the thing you cannot control.
What Will You No Longer Accept?
We are strange creatures, we humans. We can completely dislike a scenario but choose to live with it instead of going through the discomfort of changing it. In case you haven’t noticed, this doesn’t really work. It makes us miserable, and eventually this misery gets placed on others. Decide what things in your life (that you can control) you will no longer accept as a general rule. And go to work on changing it. I started doing this decades ago, and it led to some pretty amazing things in my life, and it will for you too.
Do the Thing.
All three of the prior questions are part of this statement. There is something that has been on your heart for a while. Probably years. You keep thinking about it. Coming back to it. But you haven’t done anything about it. Or maybe you are playing a little with it. You have a litany of reasons why you haven’t really started or it isn’t really the right time yet.
Stop Stopping yourself.
Start.
It’s time.
You have no idea what tomorrow holds. If it’s on your heart, and it doesn’t go away, you have to be congruent and true to yourself. You will be better for it. The “thing” may not change the world, but it will change YOU IN the world, and THAT changes things for you and the people you touch.
I hope this helps you in some measure as you go forward. I will be here ready to serve and support should you need or want my coaching and support. If you feel this article will help someone else, please share. Here is a little bonus video on goals.
If you need some Coaching, or Training for your organization, reach out to me.
Many Blessings, Todd
P.S. Getting the right nutrients for your body to function at it’s best is vital to a good life. In this video, I share insight into many of the challenges that are causing people to struggle with their health and energy, and then I share one of my secret weapons that I have used for 21 years. If you’d like to know more, shoot me a message. How to Manage Your Health Risk
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