2020 has been the year than none of us would’ve predicted.We’ve experienced new concepts, many of which we’d probably never have dreamed of before this year; social distancing, national lockdown, furlough, the two-metre rule and stock piling toilet roll to name a few.We will all remember that evening back in March, tuning in to Boris’ announcement and finding out that the whole country was to go into lockdown. It was a surreal moment and none of us really knew what was ahead. It was like time stood still, our plans were cancelled, we couldn’t go to work, and our normal way of life was halted. Yet at the same time we sped up, rushing around to think of new ways of working, coming together virtually to pool our ideas and for some, frantically buying things they thought they’d need in the months ahead before they sold out.We had a choice, we could focus on what we couldn’t do under the restrictions, or we could look at the opportunities we had in front of us.I was fortunate that I was able to continue to work remotely throughout the entirety of the year. Our team showed incredible determination as we quickly transitioned our services to online. We were soon able to offer virtual customer consultations and were delivering team conferences and training workshops totally remotely. We all embraced working with new tools, Zoom became an absolute lifeline keeping both our business and social lives going.As a business we showed agility and resilience which is perhaps why we’ve bucked the trend. We’ve continued to grow as well showing a slight increase in profits on last year despite some of the most challenging circumstances I’ve ever experienced.By July, 9.4million people had been placed on furlough. For the first time in their lives, people were being paid to stay at home and spend time with their families. Yes, this wasn’t as straightforward for everyone but for lots of people they suddenly had extra time on their hands whilst being paid; another choice.Time is your most valuable asset, you can make money back, but you can’t make time back so how you spend it is crucial.More than 375,000 new businesses were started during the pandemic, which tells me these people utilised their time. They made a positive choice, whether that was using their time to learn a new skill, turning their passion into a business or taking the opportunity for a complete lifestyle change, taking a step into the gig economy and taking control of their income.The pandemic has revealed the fragility of our livelihoods. What once might have felt like a secure job for many has now been ripped from under their feet and they’re now facing financial challenges.For that reason, we all need to think ahead and build resiliency into our income stream to protect ourselves for the ebbs and flows in job market, no matter how big or small.I’ve seen lots of people brand 2020 as the year everyone stayed at home, but actually it’s been the year we reprioritised. We didn’t simply “stay at home”, we walked more, we appreciated our local areas, we were grateful for our loved ones and the less materialistic things. We had time to reflect, time to learn and now we must bring those lessons into 2021 and make it count.