Opinion: Say goodbye to 2020, but not entirely

So, 2020 is officially behind us.

If you haven’t by now, take a breath. We could all use one, thinking of the economic, work, social and personal toils during the year.

While it’s gone, 2020 won’t be forgotten. It shouldn’t be – and not just with a weight or dark cloud over it.

I received a story pitch the other day pointing out three positive work traits that 2020 has cultivated. They were a refreshing reminder, as we turn the page on the calendar, that there are some good things to take forward and build upon.

This email, from an international executive search firm, identified drive, adaptability and gratitude as character traits perhaps developed in 2020 that can serve job seekers very well in 2021.

It got me thinking. What character traits were cultivated in your lives and work last year?

I invite you to email me a couple, along with how you’ll put them to work in your jobs in 2021. I’d like to publish them in a future column, with your permission, of course. If inclined, send to eolson@sbj.net.

Now, I can’t ask for yours without sharing mine. It’s only fair.

For me, the character traits that 2020 cultivated are lessons/learning, care and resilience.

1. Lessons.

I want results, and I want them now. In that regard, the publishing business has fit me well. There’s always demands, deadlines and results to be had. 2020 is teaching me patience, to learn a longer view, to take a different route, perhaps.

The results will come – but they might come later and different than expected. It’s OK. There are lessons to be learned in the meantime.

And I’ve got to adjust for them to take their full effect – even, or especially, if that means getting outside of my own head.

2. Care.

I’m a doer. Give me a task, some guidelines and an objective, and I’ll push hard for those results – myself and those around me. With a razor-sharp focus. And nine times out of 10, I’m satisfied with the outcomes. Results feel good. They’re black and white, and easily checked off. Maybe you can relate.

This year caused me to rethink that. 2020 showed me to pick my head up from the task more often and look out for things ahead of me and people around me. It doesn’t come easily or naturally, but it can come. That’s what 2021 is for. In short: Take care for more than the tasks at hand.

In Springfield Business Journal’s recently published 90 Ideas edition and podcast, taking care was a thread spoken by the featured executives. Tim Stack said to take care of sleep – make it a priority. Jann Holland talked about exercise and how caring for our bodies invigorates our minds. And Dr. Shelly Farnan emphasized self-care and, oh, laughter.

It’s time to take care of the things or people we haven’t been caring for. We know what that is for each of us, individually.

3. Resilience.

Sometimes in life and work, there are waves coming up against us, a thick fog rolling in or insert your own visual analogy. The idea is that resistance is there, and it’s not going away – as far as we can see anyway. We might not have seen it coming. Or we did, and we weren’t prepared or didn’t know how or have the courage to respond. Resilience is to keep going.

Per Merriam-Webster, resilience has two entries. No. 1 is the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress. Wow, that’s deep. Let that simmer. No. 2 is an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. At the risk of sounding cliche, take one step at a time. Just keep looking and moving forward. So what if something else sends me two steps back? I might have to go a different direction to get there.

Admittedly, I’m still trying to figure out what these look like in work and life. I mean, it’s only January.

You and I have a whole year ahead of us.

Springfield Business Journal Editorial Director Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.