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Like you 2020 was not what I expected it to be. My word of the year for 2020 was adventure. I expected to do a lot of traveling in 2020. Well I went to South Dakota once to see my family and I did that with no small amount of trepidation.
Travel was not how my adventures played out in 2020. My initial thought in thinking about my word of the year was well I guess I didn’t really have any adventures this year.
Then I had some second and third thoughts. As I took the time to review my year I realized that even though I didn’t have the adventures I was planning for 2020, I actually had a lot of adventures. I’ll tell you about 3 of them.
Life Long Learning is One of the Best Adventures
I am a curious person and there are so many interesting things to learn about. The past few years I’ve been learning how to build an online business and before that I was busy learning how to be a mother to ever changing children. Before that I was learning to be a psychotherapist.
At the beginning of the 2020 I decided that I was spending too much time working on my two businesses. I decided it was time I had a real hobby and I wanted to get back to having time to read something that wasn’t business related.
My learning has focused on 2 things. The first was learning Spanish because one of the adventures I had planned for 2020 was to go to Costa Rica or Mexico for a winter vacation in late 2020 or early 2021. Well that didn’t happen and it will not be happening this winter either.
Learning a Spanish
I used DuoLingo to start learning Spanish. I have a streak of 260 days in a row of doing a DuoLingo session. It is a really fun way to learn a language. One of my favorite people, my youngest son suggested it.
Another lesson from my Spanish studies is that it is easier to do things and keep at it when I track your effort. More effort leads to better results. Because the app gives me a little flame for every day I show up I don’t want to break my streak and I’ve shown up 260 days in a row.
Becoming Musical
The second thing I’m learning is to play guitar. I had planned to learn acoustic guitar because it would be more portable (and I could take it along on the travel adventures I was planning). My guitar teacher strongly encouraged me to get an electric guitar like this one and an amp like this one, because he thinks they sound better, and when he had me play a few different guitars I agreed with him.
I am not ready for the stage, but I have always wanted to be musical and I can definitely hear that I am improving. My oldest son who has a degree in music was impressed at how much my voice has improved as part of my guitar training. That led to a discussion of different theories on teaching music.
Books are Virtual Travel
I have had more time to read in fact I am in the process of reading 3 books right now. I would tell you my favorite books of the year, but there is no way for me to pick a favorite with books. If I am enjoying what I am reading it is a favorite, if not I don’t finish it.
These 3 are all worthy of finishing. I just realized only one is a novel. The other two are probably self improvement, but that is still an improvement over the past few years, when I rarely read anything that wasn’t work related.
He is a rich man of influence and then he is ordered to spend the rest of his life under house arrest in a luxury hotel. It is a fascinating story of making the best of a less than ideal situation and since he is forced to stay in his home I thought it would give me insight into the world we are currently living in.
Getting to Yes is the second book I’m reading a fantastic book about how to negotiate. I’ve taught these principals as they relate to relationships for years, but his perspective as an international negotiator, gives me a different insight. We negotiate every day with our kids, our co-workers, our boss and our partner. This book will help you come to a solution where everyone wins more often.
Lastly I just finished Amanda Francis’ new book. She is definitely not for everyone, but her ideas have changed many women’s lives. If you decide to get her book be sure to get a journal, because she has lots of journaling exercises in the book and those add to the impact of the book.
When the kids were home most of my reading was actually listening to audiobooks. I still like to listen to books when I am working around the house or back when I left town and went on road trips. Some books are even better to listen to than read.
Personal Stylist
I tried Stitch Fix and really like it. It was fun to have someone else pick out some new clothes for me. A couple of the things I would have never thought to try on in a store, but they fit perfectly, fit great and I liked the look. Stitch Fix is helping me clarify my personal style.
My Word of the Year for 2021
I decided my word for 2021 will be an adventure. At the beginning of last year I thought adventure would mean traveling, but instead it turned out my adventures were learning new things, making new connections, and challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone.
Besides reading, learning guitar and Spanish I also had some fantastic business coaching. One of my business coaching experiences lead to a new accountability group. We meet once a week on a video call. I’ve learned so much from those women. Meeting with them is one of my favorite parts of the week.
Do you choose a word of the year? Comment on Instagram and tell me what your word is.
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