My Top Takeaways From 2020 - Part 1 of 2

I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say that 2020 has been a year full of personal growth and, uh… “learning opportunities.”

As the twists and turns of the year begin to wind down into the holidays, I spent some time recently reviewing the major lessons I’ve learned. My list began with five basics, then expanded radically as things really started to emerge while I spent more time with the question of what I’ve learned this year. In total, I found myself with a list of 14 (yes 14!) significant takeaways from 2020. I’m happy to share these so that perhaps you’ll learn something too or be inspired to reflect on your year in a similar way.

This piece is broken up into two parts, and I’ll share Round 2 in a few weeks.

Lesson 1: Adaptability is Key. I regularly talk about the importance of adaptability with my clients and in my content, and in 2020 it was particularly alive as a way for me to frame the challenges of the year. Systems work best when they can adapt and flex to what’s happening in the environment. At a very basic level, your health – physical, mental & emotional – is a measure of adaptability. When COVID-19 shut down our world in early 2020, it was my Adaptability Quotient (AQ) that allowed me to keep moving forward and create something new, as I launched Virtual Rolfing sessions and expanded my Mindfulness-Based Coaching work beyond the Austin area. Today, my online coaching practices have grown to be nearly half of my business and I’m excited to continue growing that side of my business in the years ahead.

Lesson 2: Making Connection a Priority Changes Everything. The health of any relationship or group can always be determined by the health of the connection between the individual parts, whether we’re talking about our bodies, our 1-on-1 relationships, or the groups we’re a part of. My main education in this realm in 2020 was in a Matrix Leadership Essentials training group I participated in, which is a partnership model of leadership that prioritizes connection first, often across challenging divides or in spite of differences (a very apt training to participate in this year in particular). It inspired me to begin focusing on a personal growth edge of cultivating connection across philosophical divides, and to also grow and sustain my business through the consistent action of creating new conversations and meaningful relationships.

Lesson 3: Big Goals Give You a Ton of Energy. In reflecting on the highs and lows of the year, I found my biggest, best highs and the most flow experienced during times spent hustling toward big goals. In March, when lockdown orders became widespread and many people were waiting things out, I launched an ambitious goal to grow my business by diving full steam ahead into my virtual offerings. As I like to joke, I didn’t bake a single loaf of sourdough in 2020! Aiming at a big growth goal during this incredibly uncertain time kept me energized, excited, and focused for the long-haul.

Lesson 4: Effective Action Makes a Massive Difference. I’m definitely an ideas guy. And when stress amplifies and flow kicks in, more ideas typically start flowing. The key for me is to take the first, effective action step toward making my ideas reality. This year especially, I had to be sure I was very purposeful in the daily actions I took. With the fire created from setting big goals (Lesson 3) I had to make sure I effectively used that extra energy to do something every day, to start making it real. When I did that, the results often unfolded more easily than I could’ve anticipated.

Lesson 5: Resting and Getting Resourced is Critical. This was not a lesson about self-care, it was a lesson about granting myself permission. Tackling big goals and aiming at effective action daily (Lessons 3 & 4) was tiring in the midst of the stresses of pandemic life. Consciously making space for rest and doing nothing became non-negotiable. So, sometimes I gave myself permission to sit in a hammock for a day if I felt like it. Or I engaged in active rest with a leisurely walk or by practicing ground movement in my living room or office (see Lesson 7 below). I did this with the faith that the next cycle of energy would be just around the corner if I was intentional in recharging my batteries. And it always was.

Lesson 6: There’s Magic in Loving What You Do and Sharing it With Others. Even with all these great tools I put to use throughout the year, burnout was a real thing. It was a hard year all around. When legit burnout came around, my question became, “what do I really enjoy about what I do?” Tapping into that energy created the juice I needed to move forward again and inspired the part of me that loves sharing what I do. Result – I showed up to my days completely differently and my business continued to thrive.

Lesson 7: Mindful and Creative Movement is a Godsend. It was a serious year. One of my intentions through it was to bring more child energy into the mix -- less seriousness, less focus, less orientation toward results. What did this look like? Well, often I’d simply let myself collapse in a heap on the floor and start rolling around (kids like to do that, right?), just letting my body play with different movements that felt good. It was silly at times, my brain tried to jump in and make it skillful others, but it created a big chunk of freedom for my spirit this year. Play is a lost art among adults, but with such a serious time still unfolding, it’s an important energy to bring back into our lives!

Stay tuned for the 2nd half of the lessons that guided me through 2020. In the meantime, what has 2020 taught you that was unexpected? Comment and let me know! I’d love to hear from you.