Three Things: 2020’s Words of Impact
What a year we just encountered.
No, I won’t rehash all the horrid highlights; we’re being inundated enough with that from the usual sources. Instead, I will use 2020 as a launchpad of sorts to jumpstart one of my goals from last year. The pandemic rudely interrupted my plans to revisit blogging. As things unfolded into chaos, I opted early the previous year to forward my goals and concentrate on surviving.
So here we go.
Years ago, when my book Games’ Most Wanted came out, part of my content strategy at the time was to do an article series called “Three Things.” It would initially be strictly about games that I loved or enjoyed for various reasons and wanted to share. Because that strategy tanked with the book’s publisher being acquired by another (and the subsequent axing of the entire marketing campaign), I only went a little down that path.
I’m resurrecting the series for 2021 (and beyond). I’m expanding it to cover anything that comes to mind on any subject with which I have a touchpoint or interest. So be prepared; it’s going to be wide-ranging. It’s less an attempt to hit various audiences and more about me being more authentic.
Without having to, you know, talk to people. (Because: INTROVERT.)
So, let’s get rolling.
Challenge
There were a LOT of challenges I had to face last year, both professionally and privately. The majority of these were all COVID-related, of course. By the end of March, it became painfully clear that any goals or objectives I had for the year were useless in both spheres.
Identifying the challenges as they came up was pretty straightforward; the more difficult part was continually shifting the solution set for satisfactory resolutions EVEN AS new challenges cropped up. And managing the constant barrage of ever-new challenges was in and of itself a challenge.
The toll was exacting. By midyear, I was exhausted, wrung out, and depressed. And I stayed in various forms of those states through the end of the year.
BUT. I did learn from each of these obstacles. I started writing down at least one key ‘takeaway’ after each challenge was overcome, or at least mitigated. That has helped me a lot and is shaping my focus and outlook for the coming year.
Exhaustion
As mentioned above, exhaustion became my unfortunate state of being from about June onward. Only now, after roughly 14 days ‘offline’ during the holiday break, do I feel mostly back to normal. At least, ‘normal’ as defined by my imagined state on March 4 of last year. That’s when I’d returned from a conference in Utah, and our office went into preliminary lockdown. (My work deals with public health and occupational health and safety science professionals, so we were already following COVID news in February and trying to be proactive.)
By June, I was utterly exhausted in mind and body. Physically, adjusting to working from home – where I worked long hours not constrained by being in the office, often hunched over my LEGO table sitting on a barstool, and not taking daily walks to keep my step count up – cratered my nutrition and sleep habits. While I didn’t gain the “COVID 15” (akin to the old ‘freshman 15’ for those attending university), I did set myself up for the worst kind of tired: mental fatigue. Midsummer was a fog. I didn’t relate well to people. Along with the constant barrage of political turmoil that affected my work’s primary audience, depression was not easy to avoid.
There are a few periods last year where I don’t remember much of anything. I’m talking weeks on end; mid-July to mid-September is one particularly cavernous period of amnesia. Though I did take roughly two weeks off in September – initially planned for a 25th anniversary trip to northern Europe – it was only enough to get me into working shape to finish out the year.
Thankfully, aside from the pandemic, election hijinks, the passing of one of my beloved cats, and the looming threat of government collapse, it wasn’t nearly as bad for me as the prior six months.
Thrive
Not a word you’d expect to see in most 2020 reflections, I’m sure.
I include it here, though, because that’s the result. After several days of reflection, it encapsulates both my journey through last year and what I’m focusing on for this one.
Despite all the challenges and exhaustion, I did thrive. There are many success points along my path: a significant promotion, publication of another short story AND another comic, and ultimately stepping up my overall game in communications and video production to help leverage success for my employer and its members. Plus, there have been several positive impacts on the home side, which I won’t expand on for privacy.
Yet as I examine things with a fresh mind – amazing what some extended downtime can do for your mental health – I find a renewed energy to take my strengths and push even harder upwards. I’ve seen more time to explore my interests with new perspectives. My relationships with key people in my life have deepened. And I’m no longer a stubborn fool to look for support as a last resort.
As for 2021…
As I read through my connections and friends on various social media, one of the trends I’ve seen pop up around this time every year is the idea of a “word of the year.” Something that encapsulates your focus concisely. I find it’s better than putting out resolutions that you know you’re ultimately not going to follow through with anyway.
So for 2021, I’m claiming “thrive” as my word for the year. Because that’s what I plan on doing. No ruminating on the past chaos, but looking far enough ahead – past this current crisis – to see how I can find personal and professional success in a changing world.
Stay safe and stay strong. See you next time.