I don’t know who the originator of the image above is but when I saw Will Smith post it to his Instagram I thought it perfectly captured how 2021 has started.
I intentionally held off on any sort of 2020 lookback post due to a sneaking suspicion that 2020 wasn’t going to ride quietly off into the sunset. As I suspected, folks are already giving 2021 the side-eye due to the events of last week and asking if the return policy is still valid.
Looking back at 2020…
There are a couple of ways for me to look back at 2020. First, if I look at the numbers from a goals perspective I did really well on some goals, but not as well on others. From a weight perspective, I started the year strong, faltered a little mid-year as the stress of the pandemic and managing two major projects with a team completely remotely took hold, then started getting it back together as you can see from the graph below. Overall, I lost 18 pounds, so not quite what I wanted, but still a partial win in my book.
From a mental standpoint, I have had a goal to continue learning Spanish & German and I did ok on that goal, definitely something to focus more on in 2021.
Also on the mental front, due to my discovery and a new love for audiobooks, I blew my “reading” goal out of the water (by 15 books).
On the less tangible/measurable/soft-skills front, there was A LOT of growth in 2020. Navigating the pandemic with kids starting the pivot-to-home strategy of online learning (and being quarantined an additional 2 times) while my team delivered on two major capital projects at work while completely remote (Gray Oak & Sweeny Hub Expansion – my team is completely responsible for the back office systems related to our pipelines and terminals) was a major growth time for me personally. 2020 was also a big year for me in terms of growth in empathy & vulnerability. The near-constant need to be keeping my finger on the pulse of my team’s emotional, mental, and physical health stretched me in ways I could never have imagined before 2020, stretching that I am extremely grateful for because it made me an even better leader.
On the family front, each year except for a few years after Michael passed away, Mandy has created photo books to document what the Miles family did each year. This year, she determined that we were going to have a 2020 book done in time for Christmas. As she reviewed the book for the year she commented that our motto for 2020 must have been, “I’m so quarantined I’m going to be intentional.” Since we weren’t allowed to go and be around people, we went to the great outdoors, so much so that if you look at all of the pictures, it’s hard to believe we were actually quarantined. We did a great job getting out and exploring as a family. Here’s a picture from our trip to North Carolina where we went and hiked to find a waterfall (no masks because there were no people around 😁).
Social Upheaval…
2020 was a very hard year and it wouldn’t be fair to talk about 2020 without mentioning the social upheaval that happened in 2020. I’m currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and it had a section that had I read it at any other point in time it would probably not have hit me quite as hard. He’s talking about how habits can either compound for you or against you.
Outrage compounds. Riots, protests, and mass movements are rarely the result of a single event. Instead, a long series of microaggressions and daily aggravations slowly multiply until one event tips the scales and outrage spreads like wildfire.
Atomic Habits – p. 19 – James Clear
On June 1st, 2020, I wrote a post titled We make better music together… and I stand by everything I wrote in that post. The sad thing is that we are even more divided now than we were then, largely in part in my mind due to the backfire effect. The theme of diversity and inclusion has taken front and center stage as we roll into 2021 and I fully intend on writing about my thoughts in D&I very soon. In Jesse Andersen’s Listening Session episode with Brie Davis on The Art of Understanding podcast, Brie mentioned that due to the pandemic we didn’t have anything else to do so when the atrocities against Ahmad Arbury, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd were committed, the world could do nothing but watch and respond. My immediate response was to become very reflective on my behavior and I immediately reached out to the folks who had previously been on my team as well as the folks currently on my team to check on them as well as ask the very probing question, “Did I ever do anything as your supervisor that was racist?” I asked the same question of my current female employees replacing “racist” with “misogynistic”. If 2020 taught me anything as a leader and human being it was to be extremely vulnerable with others as well as very self-reflective and ensure there were no planks in my own eye.
Looking forward to 2021…
As I look forward to 2021, there’s nothing intrinsic to 2021 that is going to make it any different than 2020. I had a really hard time keeping my mouth shut when people would say they couldn’t wait till 2020 was over. I know from a mental standpoint, there’s a natural mental break between 2021, but we’re the folks that got ourselves into the 2020 mess and we’re the ones that in 2021, with God’s help, will have to get ourselves out of this mess.
From a pure numbers standpoint, I have a goal to lose weight and get down to and maintain at 280 pounds, read/listen to 50 books, get 2 Duolingo Spanish & German lessons under my belt for at least 292 of the 365 days this year (80%), and get through the entire list of 5,412 articles saved to Pocket (either by reading the article or deciding that I don’t really need to read it anymore because the moment has passed) as well as make major strides on an application I want to write once I am finished getting my blog healthy again and am blogging regularly.
On the less tangible side, my goals are to be a better leader, helping others navigate the cycles of grief, and find meaning, that they’re inevitably going to be going through this year (Brené Brown had a great podcast interview with David Kessler that I need to brush up on and I recommend you listen to as well where David explores the 6th stage of grief). I also plan to share quite a bit on my blog. The impetus for me restarting/refocusing on my blog was through my 40+ years on this rock I have learned A LOT of lessons the hard way and gained a lot of perspectives and I have felt a need to share those lessons with others as a way to give back.
Finally, my goal is to continue to Love, Lead, & Build.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:35 (NIV)
If there’s any way I can help you, please connect with me and reach out. I really want 2021 to be a year where I continue to invest in others and build others up.