How to Celebrate a Resilient Year (?)
I know. Some of you are saying: ‘How can you call 2021 a resilient year when it was 365 days of pandemic?”
First, what you need to know about yours truly is that I am an optimist. I practice positive thinking. Thanks to my Dad Jack, who lived the word ‘optimist’ every day of his life. At least that’s the part of him which was visible to me. Also, the word ‘resilient’ means to be able to bounce back from a bad situation and move forward despite the bad situation. I witnessed my Dad bounce back from a number of challenges..
So it’s my habit to look for the good in every situation. I ask myself, “What did I learn from this terrible experience? What good can come from it? How do I bounce back by taking action?” Some may think I am a terrible person for looking on the bright side when there’s no denying that 2020 and 2021 were terrible years. With 800,000+ people dying from this terrible virus, what could we possibly learn? I say: Plenty. I’m going to share with you what I learned; and I would love to hear from YOU as to what YOU learned. Here are some of my learnings….
I learned that social justice and saving our planet are critically important along with public health.
I learned that we can strengthen relationships with people – family, clients, customers, friends, employees - with technology like Zoom, even when we can’t leave our homes or go to the office.
I learned that companies who truly care about their employees not only survive, but can thrive.
I learned that empathetic, flexible and kind leaders will retain their best workers.
I learned that many face-2-face businesses can stay alive if they are willing to consider transforming their how they market, how they deliver and maybe even change their business model. And they actively negotiate, collaborate and communicate with their various audiences.
I learned, that what I teach about relationship building becomes critical during crisis. We all need support from friends, family, and colleagues if we are going to be resilient human beings. And to get support, we must give support and kindness to others.
And finally….
I learned that women are truly the heroes of the decade. I knew this before the pandemic, but the evidence was GLARING this past year.
Thanks for letting me run on about what I learned (and this is just the icing on the cake), if you are still reading this. What did YOU learn from 2021? … And how will you put those learnings into action in 2022?Identifying those learnings will enable us to put a plan into action for 2022. Happy Resilient Holidays!
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