You've probably heard me say this before, but I love this time of year and hate it at the same time. Well, it's not the new year you should hate. It's all the "New Year New You" rubbish. "This'll be the year I do something great!" "This year will be different!" Thing is though, the people who say this... said exactly the same thing last year. And they'll say the same thing next year. Because as soon as the excitement of the new year disappears... so does their enthusiasm. Then they fall back into the same old habits and do exactly the same things as they always do. And this year it's even worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owJ2BwTTYds It's almost like people think because 2020 is gone, all the problems in the world will magically disappear. It doesn't work like that. The Pandemic ain't going away any time soon, unfortunately. In fact, in many ways it's getting worse. Personally I've had to massively change plans already this year, just two days into 2021. I was supposed to fly to Taiwan on a business visa to do work with my BFF, Mayi Lin. Not happening now. Thank you new Covid Strain for throwing yet another spanner in the works... much appreciated (sarcasm). Instead, I'm sitting in my Copenhagen apartment wondering what to do instead. But this is just a minor inconvenience. Nothing compared to the shitty situation many people find themselves in... and perhaps you find yourself in. Well, as much as you don't want to hear this: expect it to get worse. One of the things we talked about A LOT in the KA2021 event I ran over the last few days was the fact the idea of a "job for life" no longer exists. It hasn't for a while. But now it's worse. Entire companies are going down, taking their employees with them. Others are realising that they didn't need the big office spaces and large numbers of staff they had and are cutting down. And this will continue past the pandemic. What have you done to position yourself as indispensable? What have you done to protect your income? Doesn't matter whether you're employed in a company or own it – these things aren't arbitrary. And they aren't optional any more (though really they never were). Me personally? I've worked super hard over the last 12 months putting systems in place to protect myself and the people I employ. And as a result, I've come out of it stronger than ever. So instead of following the crowd and cheering, "Thank god 2020 is over!", "This year will be different!", I'm saying something else: I'm going to make 2021 as good as I made 2020 for myself. I'll leave today's email here. To work with me to transform your English become part the next MEFA group: https://www.doingenglish.com/MEFA/ Best, Dr Julian Northbrook