Goodbye 2020!

As 2020 comes to an end, its a a great moment to reflect on what I would call an unexpected year.

The year was unfolding as if it is a replica of one of the scenes in Contagion movie:-(

Most of the times, I had to pinch myself to check if this is a bad dream!

After a point, when I was done brooding, I could also witness the resilience in the human spirit which was so warm that it offset the cold feeling caused by the pandemic.

So what I take away from 2020, are best summarised by Tom Rath in “Are you fully charged?”

1. Meaning: The one thing that had the most influence on me during the pandemic is the work I do as a coach. To reach across people across the globe, connecting with them in the face of adversity, empowering them one day at a time gave me the strength to move forward in my day. As Tom Rath rightly said, we cannot reach far by pursuing happiness but we can definitely pursue meaning. Apart from this, preparing food for a month for total strangers in transit to their home towns, with no agenda, gave me the most peace.

2. Interactions: Whether it was learning a course together with peers, or joining a meditation session or a coaching conversation, every positive interaction, increased my sense of well being. Being part of a whole, somehow reduced the feeling of “personalisation’ - the feeling something happens to us because of our fault. It also reduced the feeling of the pandemic being “pervasive” as some part of the world like NewZealand & Australia recovered ahead. That also gave me hope that it is not permanent. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology called this as the 3Ps (Personalised, Pervasive, Permanant) of how we can recover from hardship.

3. Energy: 'Work from home' lead to a lot of online meetings. After a lot of pain, sitting for long hours, I did some changes to my “Eat-Move-Sleep” regime. The Taichi classes I joined helped me regulate my “chi/Qi” or “energy” and helped me stay alert throughout the marathon calls.

Finding meaning, having positive interactions and maintaining my energy are the three learnings that will go with me to 2021.

How about you? What are your key learnings that you would like to take to 2021?

Wish all my readers & well wishers a very happy new year filled with health and prosperity!

PS: Writing 33 articles this year was a huge learning experience in 2020. Thank you for your support and encouragement! Here is a summary.

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