What has 2020 taught me?

For most of us, towards year-end 2019, as we made our 2020 New Year’s resolutions, plans, or even thoughts on how we will live in 2020, we had nothing but hopes and dreams for not just a brand new year, but a brand new decade. And for Malaysians, 2020 was a special year as most of us worked towards Malaysia’s Vision 2020; a national vision call to achieve a self-sufficient industrialized nation.

Ironically, 2020 had other plans. If we had the might or vaccine to take away this pandemic, we would have, instead, the whole world came to a grinding halt; killing businesses and taking away livelihood by the many; irrespective of nationality, color, social status. 

Reflecting on 2020, (on the last day – 31st Dec 2020), it is a year that showed us tough times, tough lessons, tough decisions. Life was going to be different, and a new norm was born.

I realized human beings are born to be resilient, hence we are a bunch of very adaptive, creative, broader and bigger than our struggles. Now, this does not mean we do not suffer or feel the pain, it simply means human beings are wired to adapt to changing times. It is during these trying times that we realized how connected and interdependent we are. Who we are today is so different from who we were one year ago. As Theihard de Chardin observes, "it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability."

The same can be said about businesses. Business leaders, entrepreneurs, working teams and even governments all over the globe were working to refocus, restructure, rebuild, remodel and reinvent as the world saw the business environment becoming more dynamic, as it was leading us down a path of uncertainties; global supply chains broken, aviation industry collapsing, and even public events were at a near zero. But we survived and the new norm is now the order of the day. 

On a personal level, what has 2020 taught me?

1. Don’t take freedom for granted - whether it was a carefully planned holiday, or a trip to visit your parents/family/friends or time to buy a house, just don’t wait. Don’t wait, do it now.
2. Career – go where your passion is, be it leaving your cushy corporate life and embarking on your photography adventure or taking on a role as an entrepreneur, just do it. Life and time don’t wait for anyone. Age is no barrier to be doing (working) what you always wanted to do. 
3. Stop and smell the roses – don’t always be in a hurry, rushing from one place to another, meetings, goals, numbers; forgetting to appreciate and recognize the source of happiness in our lives, be it family, friends, colleagues, pets, your garden, nature and live life with a greater sense of gratitude towards our “roses”. Let’s count our blessings.
4. A strong mental health – this is where I think it’s always “Me” first, just like how the oxygen masks drop during airplane turbulence and we must wear our masks first before attending to others, we need to understand ourselves first and ensure we have a strong mental being before we try to render assistance and help to our loved ones. The “Me” time should be part of our daily life. 
5. Keep learning – during the Movement Control Order, where we spent 3 months only indoors at home, many of us become good cooks, good teachers, and found ways to travel using technologies like AR/VR, and established new social norms like drinks and meals over zoom. Distance is no longer an excuse.
6. Value the sense of touch – this has probably been the one act of affection that I missed very much. Not being able to hug your loved ones when we meet and greet has made me realize how important that physical connection is. Love is also physical. 
7. Being unmaterialistic – 2020 taught me suddenly the Hugo Boss suits, BMW cars, or the fine dining didn’t matter at all. We just need to be ourselves, sharing our stories the way it needs to be told. 

Hence, to me, 2020 has been the most important year of all – for I now cherish life better, won’t take my family and friends for granted, will work with vigorous passion, and most importantly, will keep reinventing myself ever so often, so that I remain relevant in life.

Happy New Year - 2021

Gopi Ganesalingam