Lockdown Realisations

“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

– John R. Wooden

1st Jan 2020 – This year as the name suggests will bring a perfect vision for my future.  I am going to concentrate on health, wealth and self! I am going to eat well, exercise more, be more patient, be more present, work on changing careers, try and start my own business or side income, spend more time with my kids, work on the now so the future looks after itself.

Not a small or easy list but aim high and getting some of it done would be amazing and put me in a much better position than I felt I was in.  New year’s resolutions are a tricky thing, new year new you, a lot of us feel like drawing a line in the sand is a good way to look forward rather than back and a new year kinda does it for us.

Most years the main obstacle in completing our resolutions tends to be ourselves.  We love to blame other things, it is totally natural to do so, but we know inside that the buck stops with us.  If we wanted to exercise more…we would have exercised more.  We set big goals and then shame ourselves or deflect when they don’t work out.  We let fear dominate us and use it as an excuse.  We allow ourselves to be constrained by our beliefs as it seems easier than making a stand and challenging them but then we also regret our choices and to differing degrees hate ourselves for doing it.

It can all be a bit exhausting.  Maybe we need to just be a bit more real with ourselves…

23rd March 2020 – There is a global pandemic.  Shit has got real…no doubt.  The UK announces a nationwide lockdown.  People are struggling, fear grips the world, uncertainty reigns, and all the toilet paper is gone!

Lockdowns and social distancing across the planet brought new challenges to everyone consumed by them.  Those awkward handshakes, the rise of Zoom, the suspicious looks, the ridicule of uncovered noses.  We look over this year so far and it is unlike anything most of us have been through in our lives.  There has been so much despair and loss.  There has been humour and conspiracies.  There has been warmth and love in our communities. 

One thing that became apparent quite quickly was how rigid our lives were before all this. Although we had our freedom it was at the cost of expectation.  Expectation that had culminated over years of evolution and that was firmly unfit for the modern world.  Yes, our normal rights were temporarily suspended but I actually felt freer than before.  I did not have to commute to work, it wasn’t expected of me to stay late and miss my kids, bosses and companies were progressive and forward-thinking, sceptics were becoming converts, a lot of people were genuinely concerned for their neighbours.

There seemed to be a certain spirit in the air that we only have read about in books about the great wars.  Considering my new year’s resolutions, I was very much in a mixed mind.  Should I now be grateful for the unfulfilling career I want to escape?  Can I count on the mood of society having changed so much that some of my issues with the corporate rat race are now non-existent?  Do I need to eat well and exercise more when I can’t go on holiday?

Society and culture have conditioned us to believe in settling.

Lockdown has brought us to our knees in many ways and we will be paying for this for many years to come but it has also shown us a new way.  A life where we are not constrained by location, where we can work remotely and still be connected.  Where we can work on our own schedules and be autonomous without sacrificing productivity.

If this is all possible then perhaps some of the worst limiting beliefs that prevent us from starting our own passion project, business, or side hustle are already overcome and all we now need to do is act.

People went both ways since this pandemic started, some fell further into a negative spiral and others achieved things they never thought were possible.  One thing I know for sure is that it is never too late to learn from this year, whether that’s seeing your life for what it is and what it can be regardless of what has happened so far and striving for more or keeping hold of all the positives and not letting anyone or anything push you back into your old ways.

I had a lot of hopes for 2020 and at one point thought it was futile but a lot of it has come true.  And not just because of me but actually because of this pandemic.

Take note of this year, don’t be a victim of it, learn from it, rise up and let it give you the strength to go all-in on yourself.

Believe in Plan B

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