7 Ways to Make 2021 a Year of Growth and Joy

We’d all like 2021 to be a year of growth and joy.

Few would say 2020 went as expected. Many suffered tragedies. It was difficult for everyone.

As the year ends, it’s a time for a fresh beginning. Goodbye to the bad, and in with the new.

Here are some ways to make 2021 your year.

Bring growth and joy with a positive attitude

The easiest way to improve happiness is to focus on gratitude.

Keep a gratitude journal to remember how much is wonderful in the world. There’s an infinite amount to be grateful for.

Foster a positive attitude in general.

Kiss your loved ones. Dance for no reason. Do what makes you joyful.

Build the habit of joy, so it becomes your default.

Growth is much easier if you’re joyful.

Avoid complaining and resentment

The world has plenty of problems. Every individual has problems. Nobody lives a life of perfect bliss.

Some face more challenges than others.

Racial discrimination, mental health problems, poverty, physical unattractiveness, lack of education, social awkwardness, obesity, height, country of birth, lack marketable skills, and a gajillion other factors.

Everyone has some ways their life is hard.

But the game of “Who has the worst life” only has losers. No winners.

Focusing on your disadvantages is a sure way to stop growth and joy.

When you complain, you train yourself to seek out unhappiness. Whether about the world or your own life.

Being angry and frustrated becomes part of your identity.

Complainers don’t try to fix problems, or look on the bright side.

They react to suggested improvements with anger. They’re outraged when someone points to what’s good.

They’re so invested in a negative worldview that anything which improves things threatens their identity. They need to have plenty to complain about.

So complaints become self-fulfilling.

Avoid this trap by not complaining in the first place.

Be content with what you can’t change

It’s not feasible for you to fix most problems in the world.

When a problem upsets you, stop and think, “Can I personally realistically improve this?”

If not, put it out of your mind. Anger, screaming at the internet, or inventing “solutions” you have no power to implement don’t help with the problem. (And often make things worse.)

Instead, foster an attitude of accepting the world as it is, not as you wish it were. 

Then live your best life, and do your best to improve the world, given what reality actually is.

Focus on realistic growth and joy, not tilting at windmills.

Bring growth and joy with actions to improve what you can change

There are plenty of things about your life you can improve on.

But to grow, you have to take real action.

It’s not enough to want it, dream, plan, wish, visualize, research, put out the right energy, read books, take classes, or tell people you’ll change.

You can only improve your life by doing things.

To find love, go on dates.

To lose weight, eat healthier.

Build your career by applying to jobs. Or at least improving your skills.

Help your finances by spending less and earning more. 

All the planning in the world is meaningless without concrete action.

Plan actions to get where you want, then do them

Some goals or problems can’t be solved by obvious actions.

They’re complicated enough to require many actions over the long-term.

Then you need a plan.

Where do you want to be a year from now?

Work backward to list out the actions that will get you from here to there.

And then do those actions.

What if you can’t figure out a series of actions to get you from here to there? Then you have two choices:

Come up with a more achievable goal.

Or if you’ve figured out most of the actions, start doing them. Have confidence that you’ll fill in the gaps later.

Either are reasonable choices. It depends on the specifics of the goal and your personality type/skills.

Be adaptable when seeking growth and joy

Anyone who made a plan for growth and joy in 2020 had to abandon it by the end of March, because the world changed so much.

Here’s the one prediction about 2021 I’ll make:

Anyone making predictions about 2021 will be wrong. (But I could be wrong about that.)

Plan actions to achieve your goals in 2021, but be prepared for the world to throw curveballs.

Hopefully next year won’t be as chaotic as this one. But some unexpected things will happen. They always do.

Be ready to change your plan. Life happens. The world happens.

Your spouse may get sick. You may fall in love. Superintelligent dingoes may invade.

Or maybe you’ll change your goals. Perhaps you won’t like that new career. Or your hobby becomes a lucrative business. Or your plans don’t work.

Growth and joy don’t come from everything going your way. 

You can’t expect life to give you everything you want. The world doesn’t work like that.

Growth and joy come from adapting to reality. Rolling with the punches. 

Find where opportunity, your skills, and what you find fulfilling meet. Then take action to get to that point.

Maintain connections

The final factor for growth and joy is human connection.

Hopefully we’ll soon transition from interactions mainly being virtual back to the real world.

Many have become used to staying at home and interacting solely online, resistant to seeing their friends and communities in person. 

But humans are social creatures – including introverts. 

It’s vital for happiness to go out and do things with friends, and interact with larger groups of coworkers, churches, civic organizations, and clubs.

These communities also help with growth by offering opportunities, education, and assistance.

There’s an additional risk that after a year building online communities, we may abandon our new friends in the shift back to the real-world.

Use 2021 as an opportunity to keep and build both online and real-world interactions, so that they can each be a source of growth and joy.

Look to growth and joy in 2021

2020 was a difficult year.

Let’s put it behind us and look forward.

Take action to make 2021 your year – the best year it can be.

Nobody can do it for you.

It’s up to you to make that choice.