Resilience, kindness, optimism are some of the things that got many of us through 2020! What a crazy rollercoaster it‘s been. I‘ve asked my team to share their favourite lesson from 2020, please find some of them below!
One of my biggest 2020 reminders is that we always have a choice. We can lead with courage and love or we can lead with fear. We can be kind or we can be ignorant and entitled (two of my biggest pet peeves!). We can go down the rabbit hole of pandemic news and lose ourselves in contradictory information or we can focus on strengthening our businesses, keeping our team members safe and work our butts off to support our customers. Life is full of crossroads, which way will you walk, run or skip?
‘What‘s one thing you‘ve learned from 2020?‘ Here are some of our team responses:
Christo: “It’s been highlighted that there are constant changes at all times in business, so you really need to be reviewing your marketing, market, points of difference, and product or service offerings constantly. We recommend every quarter to at least check in on these different areas of your business whether there’s a pandemic or not.
There have been a lot of awesome businesses that we work with who have adapted with a totally new offering to adapt to the changing landscape. For example, a Whiskey business that also now sells trendy hand sanitiser and a chain of restaurants that turned into an eCommerce home delivery food service almost overnight.”
Aga: “One thing I have learned in 2020 is that the poopiest situation can help you to see so much better what to be grateful for. So rather than sitting and watching TV and complaining about how crappy the pandemic is – look at what opportunities the fundamental change in the way we live has given us. Some examples:
*Spending time with your family and slowing down – the pandemic has given us the opportunity to reconnect with our family as the distractions of going out and always being busy were removed.
*Not travelling – now we can see the beauty of where we live!
*Better hygiene – this is a fun one haha. The proper hand hygiene, coughing etiquette, etc has actually been a great thing in spreading less germs not just covid germs haha! I am grateful for that.
Just being grateful for all the things we do have, a job, an opportunity to make a real change in your life and a home to have been able to be during lockdown. Because many many people didn’t and don’t have this privilege.”
Marusja: “A fortune cookie at the very start of the year set the tone for the rest of my 2020: “Coincidence cannot be planned”. 2020 taught me that sometimes the most bulletproof plan does not work out and that’s ok too! What is essential when you enter a dead end is not to try to run through the brick wall but instead take a step back, look around you and choose a different path even though this might take you longer. But in the end, it will bring you to your destination – which might not be the one you had in mind first, but it will be the right one. Trust me!”
Martina: “To surrender, to be present, and to appreciate every single moment. To fully be aware and let go of outcomes and expectations, to just live fully. Change will always be part of life and there is no need to fight for it, let it happen, and learn to navigate through it.”
Kevin: “What you focus on you feel. If you focus on the news and the drama cycle, you can continually feel negative. And if you feel negative, you take less action and get less results in life. Instead, choose to focus on anything else that helps you feel positive.
My favourites are:
1. What can I be grateful for now? Even with sick family members, challenging economic and social circumstances, I can be grateful for my health, the weather, my family, my friends, that I live in this beautiful county and have amazing (and bananas) colleagues.
2. What can I control in this situation?
I can‘t control the Coronavirus, or the politicians, or other people‘s responses. But, it‘s in my control to manage how I feel. It is in my control how kind and positive I am to others. It‘s in my control to think about how this is impacting my clients – and do proactive things to make their lives better.
When I focus on these things, I feel more positive, take more empowered action, and get better results for myself and others.
So my lesson: The negative is always available to you, and so is the positive. Choose wisely which one you access!”
Haidee: “You have to be patient in your life. Things will come around if you‘re patient. We believe things work out if we are in a hurry. It‘s true that we must be efficient and fast but sometimes we should not rush into anything. Patience is one of the keys to success”
Steffee: “Always strive for a better version of yourself. With things changing now, I have to adapt to the changes going on. There are things going on which aren’t in my comfort zone, but I have to adapt to them. With these changes, I have to learn to get better at it. Change is good and change for yourself – not to compete with others, but to compete with yourself to be better if not the best.”
Shandra: “There‘s no such thing as loss, there‘s only transformation” Dr. John D Martini
I love that this opens up a sense of positivity and possibility rather than a focus on what‘s no longer there. When something goes away, there‘s not a vacuum – there‘s always something new or different that now exists or is available if you look for and take advantage of it.”
Udo: “2020 was a reminder of impermanence. Nothing is permanent, everything in the world is always changing. We like to hold on to the way things are. COVID-19 has made many of us more aware of how we are impermanent as are our businesses, relationships, habits, and beliefs. Impermanence doesn’t just mean death and decay. Because of impermanence, we can change – if we want to.
Reflecting on impermanence also makes us realize that we do not have all the time in the world. This realization can become the wind at our backs urging us not to squander the precious opportunities that we have right now.”
Denise: “Just because someone carries it all so well doesn‘t mean it‘s not heavy.”
What about you? Please share with us!
Infinite gratitude goes to our teams at @basicbananas, @the_businesshood, and @oceanlovers.global.