What 2020 has taught me...

It’s hard to know where to start when talking about 2020. Of all the possible scenarios we could have envisaged, none of us could have predicted the year we’ve just experienced. I’m sure we’d all agree that we can’t wait to wave goodbye to 2020 on December 31st and move on to a more positive 2021. Looking back at the year that was 2020 really got me thinking though. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely wouldn’t want a repeat performance but when I actually take the time to stop and reflect I can see that there are a lot of positives to come out of this year for me, on both a professional and personal level.

My Covid Journey

On a personal level, I had a pretty tough start to the first lockdown back in March after getting ill with Covid19 about 5 days before the lockdown began. I was in for a really tough eight weeks before I fully recovered and it was an extremely difficult and uncertain time. If you want to find out a bit more about my experience, I shared a blog post back in April to document my journey through the illness, ‘My Covid19 Journey.’ I learnt a lot in those few weeks. It turns out when things get tough you really do find out what you’re made of and you find a way through to the other side. Getting Covid, the worst thing I could imagine, actually happening and being able to handle it really changed how I looked at things. Being separated from family when I was so unwell and not being able to visit the GP for help and advice in the normal way, felt terrifying and isolating at the time but it also put a lot of things into perspective for me. For those first few weeks of lockdown when everyone was frantically pivoting and turning to Zoom, I was completely out of the loop and purely focused on getting well again. All of my initial worries about money and the business really did just evaporate as getting well was all that mattered. I know it’s a total cliché but if you don’t have your health then you really don’t have anything.

The power of collaboration

Once I was on the road to recovery, I felt strangely unstoppable. Fearless is probably a good way to describe it. I felt as though after getting through the illness I could achieve anything. It was a pretty stark reminder of what we take for granted in life and why we shouldn’t waste time achieving our goals. I was excited to get back to my business and make things happen and, as I look back on the year, I can see that’s exactly what I did. I’ve joined some fabulous networking groups and have made some amazing connections and friendships over the course of the year. If you’ve been on the fence about networking over Zoom, I’d definitely recommend it. Most of the people I’ve connected with via networking I’ve never met in person and yet we’ve been able to support each other and produce some fantastic collaborations. I’ve learnt so much this year! When you work for yourself having the support of like-minded entrepreneurs to share your experiences with is invaluable.

Social for good

My experience of social media in 2020 has also been a real source for good and has helped me to grow my brand during the pandemic. Social media often gets a bad rap for being a negative influence on our lives and, whilst that can be true in some instances, if you connect with the right people and follow the right accounts it can be a fantastic source of positivity. Connecting with other professionals over the last few months has really made me feel part of a wider community and it’s been great to be able to share the highs and lows of this year with that audience. I was completely new to Instagram in 2020 and I’ve absolutely loved making use of this platform, there’s so many great accounts to connect with. I try and share lots of useful copywriting hints and tips over on my Instagram feed, so if you want to give me a follow, you can find me at www.instagram.com/lemondropcopywriting

I only went and wrote a novel!

One of the best, and perhaps most surprising, things to come out of 2020 has been that I’ve written a novel!! I’d had the idea for the last couple of years, I had the entire plot and structure mapped out in my head but I’d never done anything about it. I was also too busy, there was never time. I’m just a ‘regular’ person, I thought, how could I ever get published? These were all reasons not to do it. I think a combination of my new attitude of self-belief and determination, combined with a bit more time on my hands than usual during lockdown, gave me the opportunity to make a start. Once I’d started writing I almost found that it was impossible to stop! I’ve absolutely loved the creative writing process and the story just flowed. I now have a completed manuscript ready for editing (which is exciting and also slightly terrifying). I’m aiming to work towards getting published and I’m hoping that my first fiction book will be released at some point in 2021, which is beyond exciting! I can’t help but think of the words of George Eliot here when she says, ‘It’s never too late to be what you might have been.’ Those words resonate with me more than ever this year.

2020, although not being anything like the year I planned for, really hasn’t been all bad. There’s a whole lot of good to find in what I’ve achieved this year. I’ve learned that I’m resilient, fearless and I can pretty much achieve anything that I set my mind to. I’m not sure if I would have discovered that about myself without the pandemic. Would I want another year like 2020? Absolutely not. Would I have written a novel if lockdown hadn’t happened? Unlikely. Can I cope with whatever 2021 has to throw at me? Absolutely