Live to learn, learn to live. The year 2020 was packed with lessons we learned about life, ourselves, what’s most important to us, staying well and alive. It would do no good if we leave out some important lessons we learned that could be valuable to you.
In the spirit of learning, here are 10 Life and Finance Lessons We Learned in 2020 that worth noting.
Lesson 1: Count Your Blessings
Frankly speaking, I cannot stress this enough and how much 2020 taught. Having a place to live in, 3 meals a day, work that can be managed from home, a loving family, partner, amazing friends are huge blessings we should be grateful for every single day. COVID-19 has been really tough especially for people who have little and those who lost their jobs. Counting our blessings is something 2020 made us see and also sharing these blessings with others however little we can.
Also Read 10 Self-Mastery Tip That Helps You Live A Fulfilled Life
Lesson 2: Your Expectations Can Make You Miserable
When the year 2020 started, did you expect it to be a great year? I know I did. I made plans for all the things I would like to do. When suddenly things changed so fast that life changed for everyone. Until then I didn’t realize how much I had based my happiness on my expectations in life.
Having high expectations isn’t a bad thing, it’s only bad when poorly managed. I am an ambitious person as am sure you are too, having big goals, dreams, things you want to accomplish, and when you don’t reach them, it can leave you feeling sad because you didn’t meet that goal. This comes with having too high expectations that it feels like nothing else matters until you reach that.
Not so many are aware that they base their happiness on their expectations from themselves and others without giving thought to how it could be making them miserable. We learned that it’s okay to expect something from yourself and others but then you must answer the question: “how well are you managing your expectations?
2020 taught many lessons, most of which show that things will not always go as you expect and it’s important that you don’t let that determine your happiness.
Lesson 3: Health is Truly Wealth
You may have heard the saying that “Health is Wealth”, well that’s because it truly is. 2020 made sure it showed how priceless being healthy is as it should come before anything else.
Lesson 4: Care for yourself
Take good care of yourself, it’s crucial to your well-being. With everything that happened in 2020, self-care was no doubt one of the best ways to stay mentally healthy. During the lockdown, we found simple ways to care for ourselves.
Having a good well-cooked meal, exercising, going for a hike, talking with family, friends, engaging in activities such as crossword or puzzles, games, reading, and writing. Nothing is as important as caring for yourself.
Lesson 5: Don’t Take Things for Granted
We learned to appreciate simple things like hanging out with friends, going for a cup of coffee with colleagues, watching a movie in the cinema, or traveling for holidays. All these experiences we normally have with people we care about became something we were privileged to do since the way of living changed.
Lesson 6: Having an emergency fund is crucial
If 2020 taught one thing, it is to be prepared for anything that way if the economy gets shut down or you lose your job, you have something to sustain you for a time. Unfortunately, so many lost their jobs during the pandemic in 2020 and was faced with a financial challenge.
As bad as things were during the pandemic, there’s no telling that things can’t get worse at any time, and it’s best to have something to support you and your family.
Also Read the Simple Rules of The Rich and Wealthy
Lesson 7: We can save more than we think we can
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were compelled to stop eating in restaurants, going out to movies, theatre, concerts, festivals, etc. The result of this was being able to save much more money than usual.
Things will not always be like this, that’s for sure. There will be a lot to do and experience when things get back to normal. This doesn’t mean when everything is opened we should go spend all the money saved. Neither does it mean that we shouldn’t continue to save. It is necessary to adopt the habit of saving.
Lesson 8: Live Within Your Means
2020 made a lot of us realize that we didn’t need so much to live. The luxurious bag, clothes, wristwatches, parties, etc. things that most people desire beyond their means weren’t needed. Even those with an unusual habit of following the trends, spending realized after being hit hard with 2020’s pandemic and uncertainty. People were forced to live within their means.
We learned the importance of living within your means especially in such a difficult time filled with uncertainty. It was very important to not spend more than you earn as the year held a lot of uncertainty coupled with the loss of jobs.
Lesson 9: Expand Your Skills
No doubt the pandemic cost so many their jobs and means of lively hood. However, what it gave a lot was the time to learn new skills and increase our ability to tap into the opportunities that present themselves. Expanding your skills can rewarding, and is important if you want to grow.
Lesson 10: Adversity Presents Great Opportunities
Though it was a difficult year, it was amazing to see people starting side hustles, and new businesses regardless of whether they had jobs or not.
We also saw companies like Netflix, Zoom, Shopify, Amazon experience massive growth during the pandemic as it presented new opportunities for the businesses that a strategically positioned to meet customers’ needs.
Final Thoughts on the Lessons We Learned
I hope you found these lessons valuable. Feel free to share what you learned, I would love to learn from your experience. Thank you for reading! Stay healthy! If you found some value in this post, share it with someone.