Success Lessons from 2020

This article includes a bonus for you (30-Day Success Tracker), an explanation of how it can help set you up for success, and my story/experience from focusing on learning in 2020.

2020 was a challenging year, on many different levels. Coronavirus impacted all of our lives, businesses, and set new standards for living.

On a personal level, we (my family) went through lots of changes too as we moved several times with two little ones and ended up living in 4 different places in less than 12 months. Managing several businesses, respecting social distancing, and working from home with two-year-old and four-year-old was definitely a challenge. But we did it!

We (humans) have the capacity to adapt and survive even the toughest challenges.

With the end of the year getting closer, I decided to review my whole year. I went through my planner and reviewed days & months and things I wrote down.

At the beginning of this year, I did something I’ve never done before. I started using motivational stickers for my planner. Each day I would write a lesson I’ve learned that day and put a motivation sticker next to it. It actually made my daily reviews more fun to write as I was really looking forward to it (and to put that sticker down 🙂 ).

It’s a small change but produced great results for me.

After I analyzed the first couple of months and lessons from each day I actually saw the pattern in my life. It seems that we repeat our mistakes (life gives us lessons) until we finally learn something.

Even though this was a challenging year, I actually feel more harmonious than ever because I think I’m finally starting to get what I was trying to teach myself for years.

I also want to share with you some of the lessons that I noted down throughout the year.

I spread it through different categories rather than just putting it randomly.

I’m sharing my wisdom so you can learn from my mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make yours too, we all do them. The most important thing is to learn the lesson and move on!

I had bad days, I made mistakes, I felt hopeless some days but I also learned a lot, I grew, I contributed, I made new amazing friends, I watched my kids grow, I worked as hard as I could in the given circumstances.

I hope that you will learn something from my lessons (those are notes that I wrote to myself at the end of the day, sometimes it was a message to myself, sometimes it was a quote I read/heard, sometimes it was an inspiring moment or realization of something important).

Overall, as I mentioned in one of my lessons, I realized that my great days have a good balance of WORK-FAMILY-HEALTH-FRIENDS-HOUSE ORGANIZATION-PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT-RELAX TIME-PLANNING.

This is my daily success formula. What is yours? Think, journal and plan. Tune your days for optimal success! Only you can do it.

The more you integrate into your days things that matter to you, the more likely you are to create the results that you want. And you need to keep doing it, deliberately, each day.

“ONCE WHEN YOU STOP FIGHTING FOR WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU DON’T WANT WILL AUTOMATICALLY TAKE OVER!”

We are in the battle with ourselves and ourselves only. It’s every day you versus you. You are the architect of your life.

Even if you didn’t write down lessons throughout the year, I challenge you to think about things you’ve learned and how this knowledge can help you to set yourself up for success next year?

Here are my lessons (each lesson is the most important learning/realization of that day). Even though I haven’t described the events of that day, I realized that in the end, they don’t matter. There are universal laws that can be applied no matter what the event is. Once when we understand this, we can empower ourselves with new wisdom and prepare better to overcome life challenges.

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PROBLEMS

Lesson 1: Solutions are right in front of our eyes – we just need to observe more carefully.

Lesson 2: We already have all that we need.

Lesson 3: Accept that things don’t always go as planned, but have faith. It will turn out well.

Lesson 4: Don’t worry/stress over the little things.

Lesson 5: Some days are more challenging than others, put extra effort in to cope better.

Lesson 6: Even when things are “heavy”, find joy in the little things.

Lesson 7: Tough times will come, but will go away as well.

Lesson 8: Every day has ups&downs. Be brave through fearful situations.

Lesson 9: Even in crisis & difficult times there is an opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest.

Lesson 10: Your problems look very small under the stars! Focus on the people around you. Have faith. Things will work out in the end.

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HAPPINESS 

Lesson 1: Give the best of yourself each day, it will make you proud and happy.

Lesson 2: Doing what you love energizes you & makes you happy!

Lesson 3: Making effort and time for others will make everyone happy.

Lesson 4: Good habits are hard to form and easy to live with.

Lesson 5: Take time to relax & refresh your mind.

Lesson 6: Be happy with what you have & don’t overanalyze.

Lesson 7: Great days have a good balance of WORK-FAMILY-HEALTH-FRIENDS-HOUSE ORGANIZATION-PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT-RELAX TIME-PLANNING

Lesson 8: Giving yourself to others is the true essence of happiness (be less self-conscious).

Lesson 9: Spending time in nature has therapeutic effects. Use this time to refresh your body & mind.

Lesson 10: Choose how you want to feel regardless of what emotions you experience.

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PROGRESS

Lesson 1: Small efforts every day = MASSIVE impact in the long run.

Lesson 2: Act despite how you feel.

Lesson 3: Rain or shine, keep moving forward.

Lesson 4: What you put in is what you get out.

Lesson 5: Great things never come from comfort zones.

Lesson 6: If you can’t be present, take a break.

Lesson 7: Effort pays off! First work hard, then reap the reward.

Lesson 8: Do what needs to be done today, rather than postponing it for later.

Lesson 9: Satisfaction comes from making progress.

Lesson 10: Progress & complaining don’t go together.

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MISTAKES

Lesson 1: Make mistakes. Learn from them. Move on.

Lesson 2: If you fail, try one more time to get things right.

Lesson 3: Raise above your imperfections.

Lesson 4: Sometimes life happens and things don’t go as you plan, adjust, and keep moving forward!

Lesson 5: If you manage to stay strong & brave in challenging situations, your efforts will be rewarded.

Lesson 6: Sometimes when making decisions, the harder choice is the right one.

Lesson 7: Sometimes even with the best planning things can still go a different way. Accept and adapt. Life is unpredictable.

Lesson 8: Everyone makes mistakes. If you don’t make them, that means you are not doing enough.

Lesson 9: When emotions are high, intelligence is low.

Lesson 10: You will find answers. Life will give you guidance.

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MOTIVATION/INSPIRATION

Lesson 1: Change is ALWAYS possible. It’s just a matter of putting a strong belief and idea in your subconscious mind.

Lesson 2: Fulfillment comes from engaging in daily activities and staying connected.

Lesson 3: Live your life so that in the end you know that you did all you could. Gave a maximum. Make an impact. Leave legacy.

Lesson 4: First see it in your mind, then in your life!

Lesson 5: Make every day count.

Lesson 6: Focus on possibilities.

Lesson 7: Even a small step in the right direction counts & brings you closer to the goal.

Lesson 8: Get work done even if you don’t feel like doing it. It will make a difference.

Lesson 9: Don’t believe a thought you think. Your mind can trick you, especially when you are overwhelmed and tired!

Lesson 10: Use the most of the time you have, even in limited circumstances. See how you can help others too.

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FAMILY

Lesson 1: The family should always come first.

Lesson 2: The first 7 years of children’s lives are the most important. Make sure to be the best possible example as a parent. It’s not going to always be easy, but your children deserve it.

Lesson 3: Be grateful for the people that you have in your life.

Lesson 4: Invest time in your marriage, put extra effort in so your relationship can be as best it can be, and set a great example to your kids.

Lesson 5: Children having the best use of time will give you a great sense of accomplishment.

Lesson 6: Children saying how much they love you makes all effort worth it. It’s the precious moments when you feel fully complete that makes life worth living.

Lesson 7: People in your life are your greatest assets. Don’t take them for granted.

Lesson 8: Children are God’s blessing. They are the beauty of the world.

Lesson 9: Happy kids are the best reward in life!

Lesson 10: Relationships are the most important area in life.

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GRATITUDE/SUCCESS

Lesson 1: Appreciate what you have.

Lesson 2: Celebrate your success.

Lesson 3: Thinking about what you have, instead of what you don’t have, will transform even the worst days into good ones.

Lesson 4: Some days will show us beauty & peace, faith that everything is as it should be and that our efforts pay off. Be patient & wait for those days.

Lesson 5: Never take people for granted. Be grateful.

Lesson 6: Set positive expectations for the future.

Lesson 7: Success is a result of a long-term effort.

Lesson 8: Be grateful for the help you have, but also look at how to contribute too. Life is about giving.

Lesson 9: SMALL effort & good things you make for others have a GREAT impact.

Lesson 10: Focus on the good. Accept life challenges.

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LEADERSHIP

Lesson 1: My greatest power is the ability to choose my own thoughts!

Lesson 2: As a leader, you always need to broaden your vision.

Lesson 3: Communicate clearly what you want. (If you confuse them, you lose them).

Lesson 4: Be present! When interacting with people listen, observe & remember what they are saying, even the children – especially the children!

Lesson 5: Getting out of your comfort zone helps you grow.

Lesson 6: Teaching others is the best way to learn things yourself too.

Lesson 7: Accept help & learn to delegate.

Lesson 8: *Self-love*! (You can’t pour from an empty cup)

Lesson 9: In the time of uncertainty reach for guidance from people who you trust & who care about you. It helps.

Lesson 10: Proper planning prevents poor performance. Practice makes perfect. Keep planning & practicing!

Initially, I just decided to write down 1 lesson I learned that day. I never thought it would make so much difference in the long-term. It is just proof that whatever small effort we do on a daily basis compounds into a BIG result in the long run. I also never thought I would be sharing this but hopefully, it can inspire someone else to do the same.

If we put our focus on LEARNING we set our lives in new directions.

There is a saying that “measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.” If we focus on learning, we manage to overcome problems that we have on a daily basis, we gain new wisdom, we level ourselves up and prepare for new challenges.

Notice how small “immediate rewards” like putting stickers down encourage sustaining new behavior – “writing each day 1 success lesson”. Therefore I created for you this 30-Day Success Tracker which you can print out and start using any time. By writing things down you can monitor and review your progress easily. The act of “writing down” gives you satisfaction straight away as you can immediately see your progress (even check-off box once when you write things down).  You can use it to write “Learning” of the day or as a gratitude journal (write down each day 1 thing you are grateful for), or use simply to track your success by noting down “Win of the Day”.

Writing down things you are learning helps for your personal growth, writing down things you are grateful for helps you to feel happier, writing down win of the day helps you gain confidence, and to wire your mind for winning.

It’s a much better idea to focus on your daily success (no matter how small it is) instead of all negativity that’s going on in the world.

After all, even in the tough year as 2020 was, we managed to learn a lot, we limited social contacts to help save lives, we stayed together through tough times, we broke records in the fastest development of vaccines.

Based on learnings, personal, and overall as humanity let’s step together in the new year equipped with new personal power & mental strength.

And don’t forget that each step counts, track your success daily on you are on the path to success! 🙂