As we head into the silly season, I always feel that people get more and more burnt out as another year is coming to an end. COVID has taught us many things but the most important lesson it taught us, is that we must take nothing for granted. I think I can speak for everybody when I say that most of us took freedom of movement, health, family and friends for granted.
Suddenly we all realized that being able to exercise outdoors, visit friends and family and go to work is a massive privilege. Our world was turned upside down when family members or close friends were admitted to the hospital, and we could not go and visit them. Family members and close friends were lying on their deathbeds, and we could not go and say our final goodbyes. Many people had dates confirmed for weddings and they had to be canceled.
Lessons from The Pandemic
The list can go on and on but the point I want to make is that our opportunity to celebrate a newborn baby, a marriage and even a life well lived was taken away from us for almost two years. The most important thing I learnt from COVID is that I must continuously celebrate the small victories in my life and not wait until the end of the year. You see, when there is this massive buildup to the end of the year, there is almost certainly going to be a disappointment or an “over celebration” which is never a good thing.
My question to all of you is this: did you celebrate the small victories throughout the year, or are you waiting for the December holidays to unleash the beast? I had to chuckle as I immediately thought of Beast Mtawarira when I said that. Sorry, Beast! You see when you bottle up all your frustrations and put a lid on your celebrations you are bound to see some sort of explosion in your holiday. Hence lots of drunk driving, accidents and general chaos happening in December.
My Top 3 Wins for 2022
I really try and practice what I preach. I will be the first to admit that I often get it wrong. I do however want to share three of my wins from this year. I always set goals in all five areas of my life and that is family, friends, health, religion and work. Two years ago, I promised my family that I would take them on a surf trip as all of us love the sea. I saved up some money and during the June school holidays, we had a ten-day surf trip which was one of the best holidays of my life. Spending hours and hours in the ocean with my whole family really was a highlight for me.
The second win is that I really worked hard to get back to full strength and health after having COVID in 2021. I am cycling the Wines 2 Whales in November and that is my reward. The third win is that my business is back to pre-COVID levels, and I never had to retrench a single staff member. I will celebrate this with all my staff at our year end function later in November.
Don’t beat yourself up if things haven’t gone your way this year or if you haven’t celebrated the small wins. Pick yourself up and focus on being better in all the crucial areas of your life. I haven’t met all my goals, but I am incredibly grateful for my family, my health, my friends and the community I can live in.
If you would like to get in touch with me for Debunking Motivation, please send an email to corne@cornekrige.com or look at my speaker sheet for more info. I also share my story on my social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Please take the time to read the latest articles from my blog page:
Keep Steady and Remember Your Why
Why Keynote Speaking and Debunking Motivation