9 Things I Learned in 2020
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2020 has been a YEAR to the say the least. I know many of us just want to cross this year off the list and never look back, but at the same time, this year has presented itself with so many lessons to be learned. I took the time to sit down and really think about the things that 2020 has taught me because I truly believe there are lessons to be learned in every life circumstance. So in this episode, I share the nine most important things 2020 has taught me. Here’s a sneak peek:
Let go of any attachment to life going a certain way.
Let things be.
If you can’t change what’s happening around you, change what’s happening within you.
Be adaptable.
Don’t take anything for granted.
Give more grace to yourself and others.
Listen and try to understand other’s points of view.
Community is the most important thing we could ever have.
Most of us live an unbelievably fortunate and privileged life.
If you loved this episode, I know you will also love…
Episode 40: 30 Things About Life I've Learned To Be True [Birthday Episode!]
Be sure to sign up for my Honor Your Body Challenge! Click here to check it out :)
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. A podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it, let's go.
Hello and welcome back to the Embrace Your Real podcast. It is 2021, baby. This is the first episode of the brand new year. It is a new year, a clean slate.
I know over the last few days I've seen so many people say "Peace out 2020, will not miss you." So excited for a new year. And while I agree with them to an extent, I am a firm believer that everything that we go through has a lesson to teach us. And so that's why I thought for the first episode of the year, I would go through the nine things that I've learned in 2020.
I am so grateful that we made it through. I know it was such a hard year for so many of us, and I know many of us want to cross this year off the list and never look back. But at the same time, I believe that this past year has presented itself with so many lessons that we needed to learn. We might not have wanted to learn them, but we needed to learn them.
So before I chat with you more about the lessons that I've learned, I have to share this super sweet review. Comes from healthforme.com. She says "Such an inspiration for me. So happy that I found this podcast. You were actually a guest speaker on another one that I follow, and your words really hit home. Love starting my day listening to you as I drive to work each day. It gets my day started on a positive note. Your health and workout tips have truly helped me. I received your ebook for macro counting, and it's really taught me that fat is not a bad thing, and it's something that my body has actually been craving. You are truly the best and make me smile each day. When I hear you say, 'Hey, Hey, beautiful human.' Thank you so much for all that you do."
Thank you so much for the review. If you haven't already left a review, or maybe you could leave a new review for a new year, you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts, scroll all the way down. You can click the "rate and review." It takes less than 30 seconds, and it helps us out so incredibly much in the podcast world.
Okay. Back to the episode. I took some time to sit down and really think about the things that 2020 has taught me because I truly believe there are lessons to be learned in everything that we go through in life. So I put together a list of the nine most important things that I believe 2020 has taught me, and maybe these will help you out as well.
Number one. Let go of my attachment to life going a certain way. Now, I think we all had plans for 2020, whether that was some big goal that we wanted to reach, or some trip that we wanted to go on. Maybe we had high hopes that this past year would be our year. We had a major attachment to life going the way that we wanted it to, and when it didn't go as planned, we were all extremely let down.
Now, this taught me that nothing in life is definite. And because of that, I can not be attached to anything happening or not happening because I will learn that the more attached I am to something going my way, the more disappointed I am when it doesn't go that way. I would have had so much more peace in my life if I simply wanted it to go a certain way, and without it going that way, I would feel lost.
I have learned that my peace and my happiness will still remain and won't waiver if I let go of the attachment to life going a certain way. Now, I'm not saying that you can't have goals and plans. I believe it's okay, and I think you should have plans and goals, but if we place our peace and happiness in them, then our peace and happiness will always be out of our control. Because at the end of the day, we can't control what will happen in life.
And this kind of brings me to my second point. Number two. Let things be. If something doesn't go as planned, don't sit and mope about it. Don't wallow, wishing it were some other way, and don't focus on things, not being the way that you wanted them to be. That will never change anything, and all it really does is waste your energy and drain your happiness. So when things don't go a certain way or when they don't go as planned, let it be. Accept it for what it is, because at the end of the day, that's all you can really do.
It is possible to enjoy every moment in every single circumstance if you just let things be as they are without comparing them to what you wish they would be.
This kind of brings me to the third thing that I've learned this year. Number three. If I can't change what's happening around me, I need to change what's happening within me. The only things that I can actually control are my attitude, my perspective, my gratitude, my reactions, my actions, and my faith. No matter what happens in my life, it is up to me to maintain a positive attitude about it. It is up to me to change my perspective, and to find the good in any situation, and still remain grateful for what I have, even if I didn't get what I wanted. It is up to me to react to what's happening around me, a.k.a. remain patient, calm, understanding, have trust and hope and faith.
Because at the end of the day, we cannot control everything that we go through. But if you have this outlook that everything that you are going through is actually working for you, even if in the moment you feel frustrated, you feel discouraged, you feel like you've taken five steps backwards, remain patient. Remain hopeful. Have faith that what you're going through is exactly what you needed even though you didn't know you needed it.
Number four. Be adaptable. To be able to do everything that I talked about above, you have to be more adaptable, and that's something that I realized this year. When you're able to we'll be adaptable, it makes it easier to have less attachment to life, going a certain way, and easier to let things be as they are.
If I couldn't get the thing that I normally wanted to get, or I couldn't go the places that I normally wanted to go, I had to ask myself, okay, what is the next best thing? And continue asking myself until I arrived at a solution. Knowing that whatever it is that I landed on as the next best thing in that current situation, that I needed to remain grateful.
I think many of us, myself included, have this all or nothing mindset. If we can't do what we wanted to do, then we do nothing. If we can't get what we wanted to get, then we get nothing. But there's always, always an alternative. We just have to be open to finding it, and also open to accepting it.
Number five. Don't take anything for granted. Now, if you're someone who practices gratitude, if you've listened to this podcast before, you know I am a huge, firm believer in gratitude, doing a daily gratitude practice. I bet you never thought to add something as simple as toilet paper to your list of things that you're grateful for. I know for me, previous to last year, I didn't. But this past year has taught me to be grateful for literally everything.
I remember when I was looking for my specific pita bread that I always get at Walmart, and this was probably one or two weeks into the pandemic. And at that point, I think everyone was just in a frenzy, and it was like the shelves were completely out. And I just remember thinking to myself, oh my gosh, and getting flustered. And this was something I never even thought about before, and I know this is such a first world problem, but really it's the little things that I always took for granted. And there's countless things in our life that we've took for granted.
Even seeing a stranger's smile. I bet none of us ever thought about how grateful we were to see a random person on the street, smiling. But now, I know for me, I would give anything to see people smile again in a grocery store. Everybody's behind masks right now. So even if I'm at a stoplight, and I see somebody smile through their car window at me when they don't have a mask on, it makes me so grateful.
So this past year has really taught me the importance of being grateful for literally everything in the tiniest things in my life. But in the process, it's actually brought me so much more happiness in my year that I never thought I could have.
Number six. Give myself grace and give others grace. Now, there's a few points that I want to make with this specific point. First, when life changes, we have to realize that we're allowed to change with it. This past year has been a tough year, so of course sticking to your normal routine and habits is tough. There isn't anything wrong with you if you find yourself in that space. What I believe is the most important thing to do is you have to give yourself grace. It's impossible to be perfect in the first place, so stop trying to be perfect. Give yourself more grace, more grace, more grace.
And, secondly, remember that right now, people are stressed. They're very stressed, so they deserve grace as much as you do. If someone reacts out of stress, give them some grace. Everyone is simply just trying to make it through this past year as we head into this new year, so I want you to remember to extend grace to others. Do onto others how you want them to do onto you. So just as how you want others to extend grace to you, I want you to challenge yourself to extend grace to others, even in the moment if you don't want to. Even in the moment if you don't feel like they're worthy or deserving of your grace, do it anyways.
Number seven. Listen and try to understand others' point of view. This is something I've always known, but something I've had to practice more than ever this year. With everything that has happened this year, there have been so many opposing viewpoints left and right. People feel like they need to pick a side, and defend their side, and try to convert people to their side, but this approach has only created more chaos in a year that was already filled with chaos. I've learned that it's okay to not have the same viewpoint as someone, and it's okay to not push your viewpoint on someone. If someone doesn't view the world the same lens as you, try to look through their lens. Try to see what they're seeing and why they're seeing that. You probably still won't agree with them, but at least you have a better understanding, and you aren't creating more hate in a world that doesn't need any more hate.
Listen and try to understand, because you wouldn't want someone to listen and not understand you. Again, it's that same concept of doing onto others as you would like them to do onto you. And remember, actions speak the loudest. That is something that I've learned so incredibly much, even in my faith journey, is I have learned so many people have felt betrayed by the church. They felt betrayed by Christianity or some form of religion, and I have learned if there's one thing of the most impactful people in my life is that they've shown me grace. They've shown me Jesus's love, and that's what makes me want to fall more in love with God, because I see his people truly loving.
So just remember that actions speak louder than words, and really try to have empathy and understanding either people, and agreeing to disagree is okay.
Number eight. Community is the most important thing that we could ever have. I will never, ever, ever take a hug for granted, a smile for granted, a cup of coffee with a friend for granted, a family gathering without masks and social distancing for granted again. I think the thing that people are missing the most is community, but at the same time, this year has taught us that community can be found anywhere if you search it out.
I never thought that I would find so much joy celebrating a birthday on Zoom with my family across the country. I never thought that I would find so much joy in a virtual book club on FaceTime on Wednesday nights. These are the things that I sought out, and they gave me so much joy. We, as humans, we are wired for human connection.
Another thing that I'm so incredibly grateful for this past year is my ladies inside my Movement with Julie app. I am beyond grateful for their support system, their motivational push to keep honoring your body with movement daily. And I know this sounds cheesy, but we are truly stronger together.
Side plug, if you're looking for community, seriously, the Movement With Julie ladies inside the app are the strongest community on the face of the planet. I love them so freaking much. We also have the four-week Honor Your Body Challenge that starts on January 18th. So plug in, plug in, plug in. I truly believe that when you are surrounding yourself, especially virtually, with like-minded women, it helps you so much.
But community. Community is what we long for. And I feel like this past year, we, all of us, have seen community and felt community on such a deep level even though we might have not been together physically. And that is such a beautiful thing. Again, it goes back to how humans are wired for connection, and that connection can be done virtually. Of course, it's more special in person, but, wow, when you are intentional about community, even virtually, it will bless your soul.
And number nine. You and me, we're strong. We're stronger than I ever thought we could be. Now, going into 2020, of course I had dreams, of course I had goals. I thought 2020 was going to be my year. It's the year that I turn 30. And January, and February, and the beginning of March, I had no idea that by mid-March life as I knew it would no longer be like that. And who knows how long it's going to take to get back to, quote, "normal."
But one thing that I have learned is I am stronger. I am more wise. I feel like I have learned lessons, and I've lived a decade in a year, which allows me to go into 20 21 feeling strong. Feeling stronger than I ever thought that I was. You made it through the year on the days and weeks and months that you didn't know you could go another day, another hour. You made it. You are here. You are listening. And so allow the wisdom and the lessons that you've learned to push you and propel you into all the things that you're going to experience with 2021 with a fresh perspective.
So those are the nine things that I've learned in 2020 that I'm taking in 2021. Number one, I need to let go of my attachment to life going a certain way. Number two, I need to let things be. Number three, if I can't change what's happening around me, I need to change what's happening within me. Number four, I need to be adaptable. Number five, I shouldn't take anything for granted. Yes, even the toilet paper. Number six, I need to give myself more grace to others and myself. Number seven, I need to listen and try to understand others' point of view. Number eight, community is the most important thing that we could ever have. And number nine, dang it, we are so much stronger than we ever thought we were.
I know you'll also love episode 40, 30 things about life I've learned to be true. This was my birthday episode. Honestly, I feel like I dropped so many golden nuggets in this podcast. So if you haven't tuned in, or if you haven't tuned in in awhile, I would encourage you to go back to episode 40. I'll link it in the show notes below to tune in there. Hopefully that blesses your heart.
I hope that this encouraged you. I hope and I'm praying that you go into 2021 feeling revived, feeling like you have a sense of strength, and clarity, and protection, and newfound wisdom.
If you have somebody in your life that you feel like would benefit from this podcast, I just ask that you share it with them. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can post it up on your story. Tag me, Julie Ledbetter, and Embrace Your Real. We love seeing who you are and where you're tuning in from. I love you so, so much. Cheers to 2021. And I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister. That's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A. Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle. For that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check.
The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode.
Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember, that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.