How can we have a Great 2021?
Even if 2020 sucked, we can have a great 2021. In 1982, Prince released his song, “1999.” The most famous line from it is, “Tonight, we’re going to party like it’s 1999.” Prince sings about how the world could end anytime, so we should all party like it will be the last party of our lives. Sure enough, when New Year’s Eve of 1999 came, partiers made the start of the new millennium a night to remember.
Pince, circa 1982
But I think we were even happier this New Year’s Eve. Laws and disease still prohibited us from having large parties, but no law or virus could lessen the explosive joy we all have in putting 2020 behind us. We dislike 2020 so strongly that whenever anything negative happened that year, from murder hornets to the disappearance of the Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell, we find ourselves saying “Of course. It’s the curse of 2020.”
WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE 2020 IN OUR REAR VIEW MIRRORS.
Like everyone else, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in 2020. Some were absolutely due to COVID-19, while others had nothing to do with the pandemic. I’d love to blame all my hurdles on the year 2020, but the reality is, that’s just life. There are always bad things happening. Our mindset, attitude, and how we react to life’s challenges can help us rise above those events. We can make every year, including 2021, better than the year before it.
I like to use Stephen R. Covey’s analogy of airplanes, before autopilot was developed. The plane would leave from the right place at the right time, but weather and turbulence would buffet the plane around, knocking it slightly off course. The pilot, however, would constantly check his controls, and make corrections in the flight path. The plane would actually be slightly off target 90% of the time; but because of all those course corrections, it would still land in the right place, right on schedule.
LET’S RESET OUR COURSES FOR 2021
And that’s exactly how we can think of our lives as we head into 2021. We’ve all gotten slightly off course, but now we have the opportunity to course correct and keep aiming for our goals.
We’ve all gotten slightly off course, but now we have the opportunity to course correct and keep aiming for our goals.
I’ve always been a big goal-setter. I had huge plans for 2020. I achieved a lot of those plans, such as doubling the size of our legal team, and watching my daughter graduate high school. But I can’t deny that I did not achieve all of my goals. My father and I had planned to fulfill one of his life goals with a trip to Europe together. I had signed up to run a triathlon and a relay race. Covid cancelled both of those. I did not form close relationships with my new neighboring businesses the way that I had planned to.
THE NEW YEAR WON’T MEAN COVID-19 DISAPPEARS–BUT IT DOES GIVE US AN OPPORTUNITY TO COURSE CORRECT.
Despite all the goals not reached, I’m not heading into the new year feeling discouraged. I have reset those goals and course corrected my plans. The lessons from 2020 are being applied to 2021, and will help to make it a fantastic year.
We have an incredible opportunity to course correct our lives right now. By all means, party like it’s 1999 as you say goodbye to 2020. But on Jan. 1, be ready to take the controls of your plane back into your own hands. A new year doesn’t mean COVID-19 and all its troubles are just going to go away. But we can seize this opportunity to steer our lives back onto the right course, and that is how we can have a great 2021.
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