In Tough Times, You Must Create Your Own Certainty
A creative entrepreneur’s lessons from 2020 and expectations for the new year
2020 was challenging…yeah, understatement of the year. But as the year comes to a close, I see it held many blessings along with tragedy and hardship. As someone who was already at a crossroads in life when this year began, I wanted to share my takeaways from 2020 and my expectations for the new year.
At this same point in December ten years ago, I was stressing to record and publish my final episode of my YouTube channel — my own attempt at becoming a famous online media personality. I remember feeling such pressure to make it good for my audience of 500 or so. Even though the viewership was small, it felt important. That project had a profound impact on my future as a creative and a performer. However, the pressure I put on myself derailed me for a long time.
If I’ve learned one lesson in my life, it’s that pressure kills creativity and will set your career back years. Any creative project has to feel like a fun hobby in the beginning or you will burn out. I found myself feeling that same pressure this year. But often I was able to drop it, and in those moments I found flow.
2020 showed me the importance of certainty. For most of this year, I felt frustratingly unsure of the future. This uncertainty stunts our progress. If you don’t know what to expect in the future, you can’t plan. You can’t build. But when the world seems shaky, you can always find certainty within yourself. When you decide to take responsibility for the trajectory of your life, you can be sure the future will be better. It just requires a little faith.
This year I discovered that to be wildly successful, you must go all-in on who you really are. I found myself grasping to two different paths in life — in fact, I’ve been doing this for a long time. Like straddling two diverging cars on a highway, you either pick one or fall to your demise. I was stuck between the “should” path and the true path. The “should” path is the easy way. It’s the expected way. But it never belonged to me. The true path is the only way forward, but it’s uncertain and there’s no map. I’m choosing the true path.
This year I realized I must work for myself. It’s just who I am. I suspected this for a while, but now I’m certain of it. I need the freedom to create content like this and share it.
I’m going to help people launch online media platforms (podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.) that allow them to express their truest voice and profit from it. Launching a podcast is easy. Building an audience is hard. Even harder is cultivating the mindset to be in it for the long haul. I’m going to help people in all three areas but mostly in the last two. If you want support on getting there faster, reach out to me.
There were so many times this year when I felt my life had veered off course. I was somewhere I never expected to be. If you’re feeling this way too, give yourself a break. You’re meant to be here. It’s not a mistake. Even if you don’t believe in destiny or fate, the unique circumstances of your life and the decisions you made inevitably led you right here, right now. There was no other way.
This is empowering. It means you can ask yourself, “ if I’m meant to be here, what's the lesson?” If you’re unhappy with where you are, then the lesson points the way forward. There’s no reason to feel ashamed.
How about as a society? What lessons can we learn from 2020?
The news media is broken. It spreads fear and divisiveness and turns small crises into big ones. If I had just lived my life and only checked the news when absolutely necessary, this year would have been 90% easier. The news is that Debbie-Downer insecure unhappy kid you went to middle school with who spread rumor and misery to make themselves feel better. Yet we still pay attention.
Also, the “experts” all have their own agendas. Proceed skeptically.
Lockdowns. Resist further lockdowns or this will keep happening in some form for years, if not the rest of our lives. I’m grateful to have discovered what cities and states I won’t be moving to anytime soon. Places where people gladly give up freedom in exchange for a false sense of safety are not places I want to be.
It’s been a tough year and it’s shown me that happiness can’t rely on external circumstances. You have to make your own. Thank god for the friends and family who kept their sanity and were there for me in these tough times.
A word on fear. Fear doesn’t tell you who you are. It can’t. Fear only clouds the way forward. Fear is the only true enemy. All bad decisions are based on fear. Reason and liberty vanquish fear. These values always illuminate the path forward.
Bright spots in the year
Sports. Thankfully most sports leagues didn’t cow-tow to fear. Senseless rules prevented more fans from attending games, but overall the leagues got it right. Sports provided us with a much-needed distraction.
The vaccine is a medical breakthrough that is unparalleled in human history. In fact, this thing was ready months ago. The testing and approval process just took longer. This all happened within 9 months of the outbreak, which is amazing. Future biotech breakthroughs will have a profound positive effect on human health and wellness.
Telework finally went mainstream. Going forward, even more people will be free to work from home (or from a beach). This kind of arrangement will be widely accepted, and we now have more freedom to live and work on our terms.
Entrepreneurship. A record number of new businesses started this year. Many people were laid off, but they decided to take charge of their own destinies. The growing trend in self-employment means fewer people’s livelihoods will depend on a single corporation.
With strict lockdowns again cropping up, its encouraging to see places like Florida and Texas (and many others) exercise restraint and prove a relatively open economy is possible during a pandemic.
Looking Ahead to 2021
This year forced many of us to look within ourselves and find strength we didn’t know we had. We developed a new resiliency that will stay with us in the future.
I believe 2021 will be better than 2020. I believe people are finally tired of listening to the Debbie Downers. I believe now is the best time to go all-in on the life you truly want. I believe this pandemic will come to an end quicker than most people expect.
I hope 2021 brings you much peace and happiness. It truly is possible to shape your own reality in whatever form you like. Don’t let the media, politicians, or the external world shape reality for you. You have more power than you know. Use it to spread joy to others, and it will come back to you tenfold.
Peace out, 2020. Now let us never speak of you again.
Happy New Year!
