2020: The Year Gets a 10/10 Rating From Me
The Earth completes its 2020th revolution around the Sun since the birth of Jesus. Doesn’t seem like much of a reason to get excited!
But, most humans are excited as we enter into 2021. A large chunk of memes and wishes on the new year indicate how much they want this year to be the non-2020ish year. They have the right reasons to feel so – a pandemic disturbed our usual lifestyle and we were forced to adopt the new normal. Do I feel the same?
Not even close. I have hardly been so disciplined and passionate about my life as I was in 2020. Here are some of the moments that made this year so awesome for me.
I kept Learning
What excites me the most? Cricket, reading, and marketing.
I do not have goals for cricket and reading. I practice them for fun. Marketing is something that I intend to learn more about and be better at. In the process, I have been consistently trying to learn more about it. I completed a couple of courses from HubSpot in 2018 and one course from the Indian Institute of Management – Kozhikode in 2019. In 2020, I completed 3 courses:
- SEMrush Content Marketing Toolkit Exam
- SEMrush Content Marketing Fundamental Exam
- The Strategy of Content Marketing – University of California, Davis
I Kept Writing
Apart from professional needs that require me to curate content for brands that I work with, I wrote on Laykaik. The average was still lower than 1 blog per month, but still a lot more than the previous year. Topics that I covered last year were:
- Content Marketing in 2020: What Matters in the Coming Decade
- Types of Content: Formats That Define Your Digital Marketing
- Email Marketing: Everything You Need to Know About
- Webpage Content: 10 Step Guide to Master Curating Killer Content
- Customer Journey Map: A Complete Guide [With Example]
- Wrong `un: Backlink Building
- Content Marketer vs. Content Writer: Everything You Need To Know
- Content Marketing Calendar: The Right Way to Do It
- Top 20 Digital Marketing Tools You Should Use
- Top 10 Content Marketing Blogs to Follow
I Remained Disciplined With Fitness
I have never faced fitness issues. However, I wanted to up my game a little this year. Starting from 2 January 2020, I decided to remain consistent with my daily fitness goal of 10,000 steps. Here is a screenshot of how it went till 1 June. The streak included weekdays, weekends, winters of Delhi’s January, change of schedule from usual office to work from home, peak summer of June, and rainy days. I made sure that I walked enough. The streak went on till 7 July when I broke my fitness band, after which I was not able to track it.
However, I remained consistent with my fitness routine which reflects in the picture. In the picture, I tried to capture my travel buddies on a track who could not keep up with me during the trek that we started together.
I Adapted to Virtual Meets
What’s the big deal about it? Right? Everyone is doing that for years.
I am either a go-out-and-meet person or a voice-call-is-good person. Cometh the March 2020, cometh the video calls. Before the world was hit by the pandemic, I had never taken a video call (except for work requirements). My challenge was not technical literacy here. However, I struggled to accept the make-believe feel of a meeting on the video calls. However, some amazing human beings who have accepted me as their friend pushed me for it, and (unexpectedly) it didn’t make me uncomfortable.
I Achieved My Career Goal for the Year
In a school friend’s WhatsApp group where we generally share memes, I was asked if I had any resolution or goal for the year. In that group, we are four guys who are great at sarcasm rarely discuss serious stuff over there. However, it was only a five-minute span where everyone shared their goal. I mentioned that I want to switch from just Content Marketing to a more Inbound Marketing role along with an income figure. I shared that screenshot with my girlfriend just to validate my goal more to myself than anyone else. I started being more regular with my portfolio here on Laykaik. I posted more frequently than ever before.
Now, cometh March 2020, cometh the uncertainty over the job and paychecks. I was working for a company that remained in pink of health for the nature of the business we were in. Everyone had the same suggestions, staying here is the best bet and switching in this situation is too risky. I took my time. By July, I had made my mind that I need a different work challenge. By August this year, I two offers with similar roles. By September, I had bid goodbye to Affle and joined Ameyo as Manager- Marketing; achieving both goals, thanks to the courses I took and support I got from those friends.
Switching jobs virtually was in itself a whole new experience. The farewell from Affle and welcome by Ameyo was so smooth and still feels like a dream.
I Managed to Travel
It was in 2015 when I had decided that I will travel to a new city every year. It was Mcleodganj, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mussoorie, Dehradun since then. I revisited Jaipur, Udaipur, and Jodhpur as well during these years. Now, cometh the March 2020, cometh the travel restrictions. Even when the restrictions opened up, traveling seemed impossible. However, a couple of nephews and a niece teamed up to take me on a trip.
We went to Kasol and trekked to Kheerganga. You can see in the earlier pic about how well returned their favor after they allowed me to tag along. On the positive side, I saw the snow for the first time in my life. Visiting this calming place has to be one of the finest moments of my life.
Waking up at 4 am, I got a glimpse of the most starry sky I have ever seen. In the awe of its beauty, I didn’t take any pictures. I was afraid that my naive photography skills might not be able to capture what I could see with my eyes.
Wrapping Up
I got almost everything positive that I was looking for in 2020. Fortunate to be in a better situation than many even in the tough times, I am keeping my fingers crossed as I continue to take subtle risks in the adventurous journey called life.
As I step into 2021, I have got smaller goals. I want to learn writing with both hands and grow a little kinder. I will try to be more consistent with Laykaik. That’s it.
That’s all, your Honor! I rest my case.
Nishant Kadian is a content marketer with more than 10 years in the digital marketing industry. He is currently working with Acefone. He has been associated with cloud tech leaders, like Aemyo, Exotel, Affle, and ACE Cloud Hosting in the past.