This month GPS has been looking back on 2020, the goals we made, the plans we had, and how it’s all been so different than we expected. We know it isn’t just us who feel this way. Many people started off 2020 with big dreams, amazing plans, some hard goals to achieve, but a whole lot of passion and determination to make it all happen.

The thing is, things don’t always go according to plan. They rarely happen the way we expect them to, and sometimes we have to improvise to make them happen.

With all of these plans and goals still wanting to be achieved, it feels like the world has been playing a waiting game. When will things go back to the way they were? When can I start this new project? When can I plan to make this happen? 

For some, this waiting game turned into an excuse train, “I can’t make this happen because I can’t do this.” “I can’t go there and get this done because of this.” “I can’t make it happen because that’s not how I planned it.”

Well, we are here to tell you…Enough is enough. 

No more waiting, we cannot just hope that things will go back to normal. We need to take control of our lives, be in the driver’s seat and go where we planned. Although the road might have some detours, that doesn’t mean you can’t get there. 

If you find yourself on the “excuse train”, take a second to get off at the next stop, and hop in your “tackling life head on” car. Seriously, envision yourself getting off the train, and getting into a car that you are driving. Instead of saying, “I can’t because of ____”, ask yourself what you can do. It’s important to start asking yourself better questions about what you can do in this “new norm”. 

We have no control over what is going to happen in the world, but we do have control over how we react. Part of tackling life head on is about planning ahead as well. If you follow us on our social media platforms, you will have seen last week’s Fundamental Friday, “Look Ahead & Anticipate” which we feel is extremely relevant in this current situation. So how exactly can we do that? Well, it rarely feels good to be blindsided by something, such as losing your job because of a global pandemic. But, what feels worse than that, is having no back up plan, no savings to live off of, and no idea what you are going to do. We can’t go back and change things now, but we can look ahead and anticipate. We can plan ahead and start saving some money so if another global disaster does hit, we feel somewhat prepared.

For those of you who were not affected financially during the pandemic, you were definitely affected socially. Restaurants, gyms, and all meet up areas closed down. People stopped flying, and started working from home. Many people made the best of this situation by learning how to use Zoom for virtual Sunday night dinners with their family, happy hour with their friends, and a way to read a book to their grandchild before he/she went to bed at night. As time has gone on, people are really learning how important it is to have good relationships in their lives, and how to make the best of this situation. By tackling this situation head on, we as a country found a new way to stay in touch while staying safe and keeping others safe. In this month’s Newsletter, we featured our founder Doug Peterson, who has turned his carport into a Tiki Lounge where he and his family can sit and enjoy summer while saying hello to the neighbors as they walk by. Although Doug and his wife miss having people over and exchange stories about their week, they are truly making the best out of this situation and doing the next best thing. We’ve seen it all over the media, people social distancing over the fence while having “dinner” with their neighbors, friends FaceTiming in to meet the newest addition in their friends family, and people caravanning past a friends house with signs on their car and music blasting whilst they sing happy birthday! 

We know things aren’t the same, but we also know that there is a reason and a way to enjoy life right now. With every “I can’t do this” there is an “I can do that”, you just have to look for it. We may not be able to grab coffee with a friend at our favorite coffee shop, but we can order it online, pick it up, and FaceTime/Zoom with our friend at home. When you change the way you are looking at this situation, you will see all the amazing opportunities to learn something new, try something out, and work towards a new goal. Get off the excuse train, and hop into the driver’s seat, we promise the view is better.