2020 has been a totally unexpected and different year for almost everyone. It’s been a year of growth for some people and for others it’s been a complete disaster.
For me, it’s had its fair share of ups and downs. I have been lucky enough to have been working through this time but definitely, I have had to adapt my work and lifestyle. I have had to change my approach to certain areas of my life and really learn to build a structure and prioritise activities more than I was doing before,
Ultimately, 2020 has given me an opportunity to slow down. Although I saw this as a negative initially, in reflection it’s has allowed me to peel away habits and structures that I had been doing for years, that were clearly not working for me. In this article are just a few of those lessons I learned. Some may be new to you, whilst others may be old. Have a read and drop me a message with some of your own core lessons.
1) Learn to adapt fast or be left behind
Having to shift my working from face to face to zoom was unexpected and definitely made me tailor my approach to my work. Although, I have used zoom to coach before, ultimately changing my entire client list to zoom was a change that I wasn’t prepared for. The shift to an online platform was something I saw others do but never tried to implement it myself before. But with lockdown in effect, it definitely taught me the importance of taking action as soon as possible and adapting my approach as you go along. There definitely wasn’t enough time to take it easy and sit back considering I needed a salary to pay for bills!
Even if lockdown ends and COVID-19 is sorted, adapting and stepping into the uncomfortable is something we will all need to start doing and practising, otherwise as technology grows, we will all be left behind.
2) Prioritise your mental health
Being trapped at home with family/friends or alone has bought up emotions we may have paid attention to before. This can be scary and cause anxiety and/or even worse, depression.
For me, it allowed me to acknowledge certain beliefs and attitudes that I had not focused on before. This included my beliefs around money and feelings of guilt that I had not acknowledged before.
I was able to use my mornings to journal and meditate more often, which helped me with my mental health and helped me stay positive when I could have spiralled into panic and anxiety.
3) Structure and systems are essential to build a “flow state”
We all have goals we want to achieve but without the right systems and structure in place you will find yourself back to square one. It was initially difficult to embrace this because I had always liked the idea of being in flow and being spontaneous.
However, after beginning to create a strict schedule I began to realise just to how useful it was for me and it also helped highlight how more efficient I could be. When I say strict schedule, I literally mean planning every hour of your day- it sounds militant but it’s better to be prepared than unprepared.
By doing this I began to realise how much time I wasted doing things I thought was “efficient” but really something I could have done later. It also helped me prioritise things in order of real importance and get them done more quickly.
If you have read the secret or other law of attraction books, you probably know the idea that to achieve your goals you have to be laser focused and visualise what you want. But if you don’t have a clear structure or system to take action from then your goals will always be in your head and you will not move forward towards them.
Yes, there are things you probably know already but chances are when you go through your weekly routine you could easily be way more structured then you are.
4) Practice Gratitude
With so many bad things happening in 2020, It would have been easy to go into a fear mode where we consistently think of everything bad and start to worry.
This is where practising gratitude is super useful to help you shift your mind to things that are going well in your life. Gratitude isn’t just about stating the obvious but really FEELING it. How do you feel when you feel grateful about something?
This year I felt my ability to be grateful increased and 2020 definitely helped me focus on the small things that I dismissed before. Simple things like spending time with family or having a roof over my head (yes is sounds cheesy but trust me it will help uplift your mindset and mood when you practice it regularly).
5) Saving & Investing money= Financial Freedom
The idea of financial freedom first was bought into my mind after reading rich dad poor dad. Over the years with many different mentors and books I’ve read this idea has grown in me more than ever. I always used to struggle with purpose and now finding and doing thing I enjoy; my aim is to build my financial wealth. I used to say money isn’t everything but this year I’ve learnt to strip this belief as it was limiting me in the way I think and in my goals.
This year I have become more structured with how much I spend per week; I review my accounts per months and also have started investing. It’s something I never saw myself doing before as literally in 2018 and before I probably wouldn’t have been able to recall where my money was going per month.
However, since my relationship with money has changed and I have of course been able to save more money but I have also had new opportunities come through to me. The main change I have noticed is how creating a structured system around money has helped me create more drive towards my future goals and vision. Furthermore, I have been able to understand certain beliefs around how I spend money that instilled in me when I was young, and thankfully I am now on the road to unlearning these beliefs.
So those were the 5 main lessons of 2020. I would love to hear about yours, so drop me a message via jagsvacoaching@gmail.com.
If you have enjoyed reading this please feel free to share it and also check my YouTube page out (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg2o0qCLt2KYCL1gyGKrUqg/videos).
For one to one coaching, drop me a message via jagsvacoaching@gmail.com.