My Year In Review
By: The Feranmi Oyedele
Tags: Review, 2020, Reflections

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” — Helen Keller

It is fair to say that, unlike in previous years, I entered this year with a remarkable level of motivation. And my motivation was sponsored by a number of factors.

First, the awareness that it was the beginning of another decade, and particularly a decade where the manifestation of a new generation- of which I know I happen to belong, will mostly take place. I didn't want to be left out.

Second, it dawned on me that the next ten years will somehow launch me into the most formidable phase of my life, and realizing the gap between my present self, and the quality of person I would want to become, I decided there was no two way to bridging the two realities, other than making necessary, and immediate choices.

Lastly, besides all the aforementioned reasons, I just wanted to stretch myself, explore opportunities, learn new things, and grow.

I thought of many ways to achieve my goals for the year, and chief among them was the intentional consumption of books.

Here I am, virtually twelve months after, seeking to honestly detail the results of the choices I made in 2020 -how they have both shaped and changed me - the lessons I have learned, and the few discoveries that came with them.

You may not necessarily be inspired, but giddy up, you could learn a thing or two, if you care.

My Monthly Journal

January

I read four books - all on leadership.

I have always been a fan of books, but all my life, I had never read as much as I did in January. I read four bulky books in 29 days.

Leadership has been one aspect of life that makes my heart sing, and gives me a larger-than-life feel. And really, I have always been a leader. Fundamentally, as the first of four children in my nuclear family.

However, nobody needed to tell me how much growth I had to undergo to become an effective leader, when I listened to a sermon by Dr. Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Center - where he mentioned that, if you wanted to be versed in any subject, you needed to read as many books on that subject, as the number of your age. So if I was 19, and I wanted to be especially sound in leadership, I needed to read 19 books on the subject of leadership. Those words stuck! And I was propelled.

I intentionally threw myself into John Maxwell's books in the months to come, and they have helped me grow in amazing ways.

As I committed more than half of my daily life into studying, what I figured was, the exercise expanded my brainpower. School happened to be in session at the time, and exams were approaching.

The mental exercise rubbed off on my academics, and the result was that my studying intensity leaped, and reading for a protracted amount of time, became normal for me, even without a tinker of interference from boredom.

February

My CGPA shot up

I read two books

Due to some happenstances that I tried to control, but didn't give in to control in my first year, I got a result that, although was okay for normal, I wanted to turnaround.

With the momentum that my resolution to voraciously consume books in 2020 had set me in, I was able to carefully soak up my school textbooks as if exams were tomorrow - even when they were still weeks away. I had started preparing in late 2019, we started our second year in October.

I wouldn't say the exams were a walk in the park, though, but smart preparation with God's help made the walk worth it, anyway.

I couldn't read more than two books this month, because I needed to sit tight for school exams.

March

I began writing a book

I read three books

My phone developed an irreparable fault in late March, and in the wake of the lockdown, writing a book looked like the only way to engage myself. Although, I received an instruction from God to write a book this year, getting myself to start had been a Sisyphean task. But maybe the absence of a phone was what it had to take me to follow through.

Because I do most of my reading on my phone - which had just developed a fault, I had to switch to the hardcopy books that, although weren't what I would normally read, were available at home. And the truth I would realize with settling for books I wouldn't read on a normal day was, every book, when studied with an open mind, has a golden takeaway or two.

The goal was to sleep every night knowing what I did not know, when I woke up in the morning, even if the knowledge was as minute as the meaning of a new English word.

April

I completed the book

My absence from the rush of social media, I guess, helped the new book enjoy my unrivaled energy. I could feel myself exhausting an important part of my life on white sheets.

The writing was a pure product of passion, and I imagined the bright smiles it would create in the faces of people who will eventually read it when published, for it is a book predicated on the amazing inspiration that comes with hope.

May I add, sadly, that I recently misplaced some of the drafts? And I have found them to no avail.

May

I got a web content writing certificate

I read four books

Teens Meet Outreach, a blog in which I have been a volunteer author since 2018, organized an in-house content writing course for writers, in which I participated.

It was an expository experience and one that would give me a major advantage in my writing career, in the ensuing months.

I got a new phone and continued with my daily habit of reading.

June

I studied Corporate Governance from a virtual college.

I sharpened my people skills by reading books like How to Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and 5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell, to mention a few.

With no end to the ASUU strike in sight, I searched online for great courses to study, and corporate governance made a lot of sense.

The course basically revolves around the executive dynamics of an organization. I learned the how-to of organizational politics, and the principles that guide the effective running of businesses, and firms.

As an introvert, an extreme one for that matter, I have always tended toward seclusion and social aloofness - which are not all that unhelpful but were things that, I knew, needed to be worked on because, in the long haul, nobody thrives alone.

The books I highlighted up there were of immense help to me, and I have watched my relationships with people get tremendously better, since then.

I have met tons of people this year and sustained qualitative relationships with a few. And if you ask me, that was progress.

July

I read four books

I started a digital marketing class on Google digital garage

I took three leadership courses on YALI

I subscribed to learn digital marketing, for no reason other than, I wanted to know how possible it was for businesses to flourish in a virtually connected world. And well, know did I!

The duration of the course was 20 hours. I thought I should finish it in three days, for maximum. But I was wrong. I lost the spark along the line, and yes I didn't like that I did, but I didn't bite myself for it, anyway.

What I, instead, did was put a flexible and workable system in place - I planned to take a study daily, rather than bog myself down with three studies, that I wouldn't end up completing. And that was it.

I spent almost four months on it. But the experience taught me more than I subscribed to learn - that it is okay to not feel like it, at times, and that a different approach to the same challenge can be all the motivation one needs, when the going gets tough.

As for the YALI courses, the durations were brief, and so I was able to complete them at respective sittings. The brevity did not water down the quality, however. I took with me, even with the short time, lessons of inexhaustible value.

Oh, I landed my first paid writing gig, too. Thanks to Isa, a friend I met on LinkedIn who mentored me on how to monetize my writing skill. He is one of the many blessings God gave me in right relationships, this year.

August

I read books

I applied for a handful of writing gigs - none of which was successful

August was my birth month, and nothing much happened. I just read books, and having recently built a CV and cover letter, applied for as many writing gigs as came my way. None of the trials, however, came to fruition.

But I wasn't dejected, and why should I be? Five months ago, I was a writer with no iota of a clue about paid gigs, let alone apply for them. Now, I have taken my career a step further, by learning how to monetize my skill, even building a resume, and marketing my - if I could say - expertise. That simple shift in consciousness, meant progress, for me.

September

I read books

Landed a paid writing gig

Being in school was the only credible reason my parents could pump enough money into my pocket, and now that it was closed and I have been home for 7 months, my account was getting redder than red.

I thought of tutoring waec students and university aspirants, at first, but most of the students in my environment seemed to have grown reluctant, as the tiniest of hope that waec and universities would conduct exams anytime soon, looked bleak.

An Uncle linked me with a private secondary school proprietor, not long after, and the terms they introduced to me were not compelling at all. I would teach all the senior classes Physics, Chemistry, and English language, every day of the week, for 12 thousand naira per month.

I needed money, truly, but certainly couldn't afford to deliver that much service for such a rate. I was appointed but didn't show up on the first day.

Four days after, as God would have it, I got a client who hired me for a job that took less than 3 days, at a quite nice rate. And this made way for subsequent gigs.

The Proprietor called three days after, to ask why I didn't show up, and after registering my dissatisfaction about the pay to him, he said to come for a remuneration. But I had completely lost interest.

October

I read books

Got a permanent freelancing job

My financial status sort of took a turn this month. I landed a much more flexible job, at an even nicer rate, and this gave me a kind of independence that I am truly grateful for.

There's a peace that comes from being able to foot basic bills with your own money. Of course, my parents still gave me stuff, but I felt a proportionate pride by not having to worry them with certain things.

It was one of the notable experiences 2020 gave me, and that I am grateful for.

November

I read books

By November, I discovered I was leaving self-help and leadership books, and gravitating towards books about complex topics like racism, modern politics, political history, and gender injustice.

Reading Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, felt like the alarm that woke me up from a sociopolitical slumber, and it brought to the surface and the ambiance of self-criticism, many personal beliefs - some of my own, some of the larger society.

I have since then given myself to absorbing necessary materials, and been particularly and actively following US politics. And it makes sense that it was the month that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris became the President-elect, and Vice President-elect of the United States.

December

I read books

December has just been a time to brood on the many things that have happened, over the months. I have read books, no day of this year passed without my reading a book. I have written a book and several articles. I have met folks. I have tried to achieve a number of things, some I succeeded with, others I did not.

I have failed this year, as much as I have succeeded, and that's the truth. Only that I have learned lessons that will increase the success of my voyage in the years ahead, and that's the difference, and that's what matters.

I have learned to trust God when it makes sense, and when it doesn't. I have seen Him come through for me in ways beyond my brain. Of God, I say that he has been mind-blowing.

Like I stated earlier in this content, books were major things I did this year, and below is an attached picture of the books I have read so far, this year.

2020 got me to understand the terrific power inherent in the resolute, unyielding, decisions of an intentional man! I’m not even saying that I was intentional enough, but rather that I am better than I was when the year started.

And I know here's not where my story ends…...

© TFO