I think Roy Bennett was right when he said, “If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, instead focus on living fully in the present.”

Because no matter how you wish to change something in the past, the only thing you can do is to take the lessons and make the most of the present. 

I do not want to overstate it because the media and pundits have said it over a million times, but 2020 was a turbulent year, and its impact is still being felt all over the world today. But we cannot do anything about it other than taking lessons and moving on. 

So in this article, I want to share 10 lessons I learned in the past year that can help you and I become even better and wiser this year. 

1. Health is Wealth; Put it First.

Health is one investment that has lifelong lasting returns. This is clear from the fact that–People affected with poor health often die at a relatively young age.

I once read that Virgil, the Roman poet who introduced the proverb ‘the greatest wealth is health’ as a word of advice for the coming generations did so because he suffered poor health throughout his life. 

Let’s be honest, a man who is too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools. We saw how many people died last year because of underlying health issues when they were infected by the COVID-19 virus. Of course, viruses are not the only thing that kills, but more than ever, we all realized how our living patterns can affect our health. This year let us take our eating habits, workouts, and hygiene more seriously because, without good health, nothing else matters. 

2. Fear is Dangerous; Defeat it.

Because of the pandemic, last year was not kind to many people. There were job losses, people lost their loved ones, and because of the lockdown that went on for months, many people got really depressed. 

To make matters worse, the global realities and economic projections of global recession created more fear than hope. But fear is not only a negative emotion, it is dangerous and destructive. It changes our perspective more than we realize and basically forces us to not think. As humans, we usually have assumptions about everything, and fear forces us to believe in those assumptions with little thinking. 

To counter this, we can use the idea of “negative visualization,” which is to imagine the worst-case scenario and challenge yourself to be mentally prepared for it and become comfortable with it. This comfort will then eliminate or at least decimate the emotional reaction to many of your fears.

3. Be Financially Prepared.

It is true that money doesn’t bring happiness, but honestly, a lack of money can bring a lot of unhappiness. Many people who didn’t save enough or didn’t have other streams of income found the last year more challenging. Money is important, but it is even important to cultivate good financial habits. This year, you must increase your income streams, and adopt financial habits that will improve your finances. 

4. Count Your Blessings; Take Nothing For Granted.

Counting our blessings requires a shift in perspective. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways. If we drift towards the comparative structure of societal materialism, allowing social media feeds and nightly news reports to determine how satisfied we are with the status quo of our lives, we’ll embark on a never-ending quest of never enough.

This world is infiltrated with worry and fear. Therefore, “paying attention to what we are grateful for puts us in a positive frame of mind,” wrote Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. “Also Research has shown that focusing on what we are grateful for is a universally rewarding way to feel happier and more fulfilled.”

5. Keep Learning, it Improves Your Life.

A.J. Agrawal says, There are always new skills to learn and techniques to adopt.

“The most successful people in the world understand that they must continuously learn to be successful. For us to live life to the fullest, we must continually look for ways to improve.”

6. Build Great Relationships, You’ll Need Them.

Our ability to develop relationships with others determines how successful we will be in our workplaces and in our relationships outside of work.

People are not born with natural abilities to develop and build great relationships with others. These are skills like any other that can be learned and mastered if one recognizes the need and takes the time and effort to develop them.

With the right mindset and the right behavior, you can strengthen a wide range of relationships in your life and advance them as far as you can. And with strong relationships, not only that you feel more fulfilled, but you feel more connected to the entire world. You feel that your life has real value, you have more fun and you live in the moment. An entire world of opportunities opens up in front of you.

7. Invest in Yourself. 

Investing in yourself is one of the best return on investments you can have. Whether it’s investing in learning a new skill, developing yourself personally or professionally, tapping into your creativity, or hiring a coach, you need to give to yourself first before you can give to others.

It is our responsibility to take the time to develop our gifts and talents, so we can best serve others. Investing in yourself is an example of self-love, you must love yourself before you can expect others to love you.  

Set goals, read educational books, attend seminars, and workshops to expand your knowledge and skills, take care of your health, and invest in a coach.

A coach is your partner in success who can assist you in putting these strategies into action. It is their job to assist you in creating and implementing your success plan, so you can become the best that you can be. I have been helping people transform their personal, and financial lives for years and I can help you too.

If you would like me to mentor you so that the year 2021 will be a great success for you, then click here to book a free 30 minutes, call me, and we will take it from there.

I can promise this: When you invest in yourself, a world of opportunities will open up for you.