As we move into Christmas week, a natural calm begins to come over us as 2020 is coming to an end. There is nothing we can do at this point to change our results. So, why worry about it? This is a time for reflection, and one thing is for sure, 2020 will mean different things to different people:
Some will say it was a horrible year
Some will say it was a challenging year
Some will say it was their best year
For me, it was a learning year. Easily, the most significant learning year of my life. And here is why…
As I reflect on 2020 from a personal and professional standpoint, and consider my individual impact on the year – I compare it to driving a car. Did you ever wonder about the size difference between a windshield and a rearview mirror?
I do.
The rearview mirror calls for us to gain experience through hindsight, by glancing at it, looking back on all that has happened before, which is now history. It calls for us to take the time to reflect on our decisions, our choices, our mistakes, our successes, our failures, and our habits—both positive and negative. But not to dwell on it. No one should drive the car by staring in the rearview mirror.
The windshield calls for us to look long and imagine a better future ahead – to gain precious foresight by passing on our trials, errors, and achievements as lessons in life. It calls for us to live in the present because here and now is where the adjustments take place. Building off our successes and making our failures successful failures, whereby we've learned from them and are making the necessary changes.
This has been my first pandemic. I was walking the floors at 2 AM, searching Google, trying to figure out what to do. As a leader, I made a lot of mistakes from which I have learned. I am blessed to have a great business partner in Mary Ann McLaughlin, in that we can bounce things off each other and build off our collective "rearview mirror" experiences. I am grateful to have a team at Butler Street that can pivot and adjust on a dime. That said, for two months, it was a horrible year with a lockdown and writing check after check for canceled training engagements.
For the next seven months, it was a challenging year. Forcing me and our team at Butler Street to continually adjust to the rapidly changing environment. The challenges kept coming, and we kept adjusting, making it as easy as possible for our customers and prospects to do business with us.
As we begin the process of closing the books on 2020, it has turned out to be our best year. I cannot begin to say how thankful I am to have built relationships with our customers who had faith during a pandemic to put their training and livelihood in our hands.
But, as stated previously, for me, it was a learning year. I go back to The Four Cornerstones of Success® and how they guided me through. I needed to maintain a positive attitude amidst adversity. I needed to hold myself accountable for both decisions and indecision. I needed to invest in my own personal development. Learning how to operate in a pandemic. Learning how to pivot and adjust on the fly. And finally, I needed to put the right habits in place to help sustain success.
Someone way smarter once said,
“What doesn’t break us, makes us stronger.”
Ain’t that the truth!!
On behalf of all of us a Butler Street, we wish you a very happy holiday season and best wishes for a safe, healthy and prosperous 2021.