Is 2021 Your Year?
Here’s how to make it yours.
A Terrible Time
By all standards, 2020 was not a pretty year.
2020 was terrible, and that’s putting it mildly. People lost their jobs, died, and were locked up at home for months. A never-ending loop of updated numbers and extended lock-downs. There was a lot of bad news. In one year, we lost legends like Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, and others I may not remember. Tragic.
There were the Black Lives Matter protests, the EndSars protests, and lives were lost. The ASUU strike lasted from February till December, effectively ruining many students’ interest in school. I would even chip in the fact that there was almost a WWIII back in January 2020.
At a point, we tagged everything that happened ‘2020’, right on brand. Nothing was so shocking anymore, though I like to refer to 2020 as the 2019 movie, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile. 2020 was a shit year.
The Sliver of Hope
While 2020 pushed us to the edge, it brought out a spirit of hustle in many people and opened our eyes that we cannot wait or trust in the government or our education system.
Many of us connected with our dreams, found our talents, began doing things we love, found a side hustle, kickstarted a career and learned something new this year. The year forced us to look inside ourselves and question our purpose and sanity a lot of times. We don’t have to wait for the government’s failed empowerment schemes. We are enough for ourselves.
I made many mistakes in the past year myself, and I am not proud of them. I hit multiple lows and wanted a lot of things quickly without trusting the process. I listened to my emotions over logic, and that hit me more times than I can mention. 2020 taught me lessons… taught us lessons. I am proud of the things I started, though. I kicked off my writing career this year, and I have a LOT of ideas that I hope to implement this year. I am optimistic about this new year, and I hope you are.
So, What Does the New Year Bring?
Yesterday marked the beginning of a new year. While we wait and ask ourselves how this year will pan out, I suggest we turn inwards. Don’t wait for the new year to bring anything. What are you bringing into this year? Maybe the past year scarred you; maybe the past year hurt you — this is an opportunity to change that. Set your goals, your aspirations, and work towards them — day by day.
You might look at this year and place so much importance on achieving the goals you fell short of last year and start to feel squirmy. You may have set out your goals in your head and think, oh shit, I have a terrible lot to do this year. Where do I even start?
Let me give you a few tips:
- Write down your goals for the year. Writing gives you clarity and tells you whether what is in your head is feasible. Thinking it is easy; writing it is challenging. Do your best to write down your goals and put them where you can see!
- Write a to-do list, categorizing them by importance, or a timeline. We know how a daily to-do list works. They work even better when you allot time to each task. For example, you write ‘January I will write this business plan. I will sign up on this platform. February — I will attend this seminar; I will crush my academic goals e.t.c
If you are feeling overwhelmed, remember that you have to take your goals day by day. I explained the importance of this in my post on Substack here (Food or Ingredient?)
- Remember, man proposes, God disposes. Don’t beat yourself up if unforeseen circumstances prevented you from reaching your goals. The important thing? You went for them. That says a lot about you.
- What you will have or be, is a product of what you will do. Go on, make that to-do list. It is refreshing to tick three or two out of five every month! What you are, or what you have, is nothing more than a product of what you do every day.
All said and done, and I really hope everyone has big dreams for the new year. If you don’t have faith in yourself, I have faith enough for the two of us. I believe in you. Go, baby, crush the next 12 months. Make this year THAT year.
Happy New Year.
