My 20 Timeless Lessons from 2020

It was 31st December 2019, people were waiting for the new year 2020, a new beginning, blessings, and joy that it had to offer. And it became a very unique year. Nobody knew what it had to offer when it started. People were busy celebrating and welcoming it. But towards the end of it, everyone wanted a year like this to never return in their life.

But imagine, that there was no Corona-Virus and the whole world is trying to do an experiment. An experiment called “work from home”. How likely was it, that we’d have achieved success in it?

It would have taken decades if not years to come closer to what we have done in few months, just because we were forced. Companies had no option but to operate from homes. We had the tool called The Internet and we weren’t using it to its full potential. My lessons and observation are not just limited to businesses and workers. It’s something beyond that. Here’s what I feel: –

1. The beginning of a new society

Planet Earth has existed for billions of years. We, humans, have existed for more than millions of years. We are just another type of animal, a social animal. And in this million-year journey, we’ve lived very similarly to other animals. But our lives change with the help of revolutions. Every revolution brings huge changes to the way we work, live, die, and do everything in between.

Luckily or unluckily, we’re now living in a revolutionary phase where we’re moving away from the third stage and entering the fourth stage.

(1) Stone age: Hunting and gathering societies that started since the dawn of mankind (since million years),
(2) Agricultural age: Or agricultural societies that started 10,000 years ago,
(3) Industrial age: Or industrial societies that started 300 years ago,
(4) Information age: Informational society that started in the 1990s.

I believe in the future, wealth will be measured not just by the amount of money in your bank account, but in your knowledge to make the software-robots (internet) work for you. Because it’ll help you create automation and true independence. Even if you start from zero, complete financial independence and getting rich will be possible for you in your life-tme with pure skill, talent, and hard work.

2. Good news and bad news

This revolution is both good news and bad news. The good news is that this revolution will release and give power to individuals like never before.

Imagine being extraordinarily smart but living in 4000 BC. You had no option but to live within the same kingdom and follow what your king orders. (Just as Seneca was an advisor to his king and was ordered to commit suicide by his King Nero because he was too smart).

But in the 21st century, for the very first time in the history of mankind, those who can educate themselves will be almost entirely free to invent their own work, who they work with, where they work and how they work. By doing this, they not only achieve full potential but also more happiness, more control, and also become more powerful.

The bad news is that the rest of the majority will be left to fend for themself with the limited jobs.

3. More power to individuals

Very few people who’ll be able to educate themself and think clearly will be rich. They’ll be able to choose the government they want for themself. When you can start a business online and money can be earned from anywhere, you won’t be obligated to live in a high-taxing country. Governments that charge too much will drive away their best customers. No wonder why we have a concept called Zero Rated supply in GST where earning money from overseas does not incur GST. Because if they charge you tax on overseas income, you can change the country anytime. The government already knows this.

4. More greed and fear than ever

In our hunting-gathering days, there was no reason to work more than 2-3 hours a day to secure food. Working extra was considered bad because the food would rot before it could be consumed (after all, we had no refrigerator), and that’d decrease the food available to you from the environment in the future.

The move to agricultural society resulted in the emergence of property. This resulted in the birth of savings for the future and greed. Before that, there was no need for private property. But when you spend a year working in your farm, you don’t want someone else to come along and eat it. It’s your work, it’s your property. But the easiest way to get something is to take it. So there will always be people who’ll just try to take it (steal it), without earning it.

So the harder you work, the more insecure you become about money and the future. But since we’re living in a revolutionary and transitional phase, people will have no idea where to keep it for maximum safety. Stocks, gold, real estate or bitcoin, or something else?

As a result, people having less money will be worried about where they’ll get the food for tomorrow. And people having more money will be worried about where to keep it for tomorrow. It is the knowledge and mindset that’ll give you true financial freedom.

5. Less power to the governments

As globalization increases, governments won’t have any choice but to treat investors and business people who’re financially smart more like customers with their due respect. Because they’re the ones being more productive and adding most to their GDPs.

But if you’re just another employee, tied to a location, you’ll be milked with maximum tax. Because no other country wants you either.

6. More privatization of government entities

If you went into a store to buy furniture, and the salespeople took your money but then proceeded to ignore your request and consult others about how to spend your money. How would you feel? Something like this happens in most countries. The governments show how little control their “customers” actually have. No wonder why many Indians move abroad and settle there. Governments have realized this and hence, they have already started privatizing a lot of their work to private agencies so they can provide better quality service. Think! You already have a lot of examples in your country about more and more privatization of government service.

7. Savers will be the biggest losers

I sense that inflation will be the highest in the future and it’ll keep on increasing at a much faster rate. Whenever the government will be unable to meet its commitment for developments, they’ll be left with one option – print more money. Government (it’s actually the central bank, but the government controls it anyway) has a monopoly on printing money. They can print it anytime, as per their wish. Since that is the only tool they have, that is the only thing they can do. People who only save will be the biggest losers.

8. From Jobs to Projects

It was the industrial era that came up with the concept of jobs and employment. But today, we have robots. The robotic revolution has already begun. I have a robot working for me who is helping you read this right now.

So there’s no reason that 1000 employees can’t be replaced by a group of independent contractors. As a result, there will be no such thing as “jobs” as we think of them now, just skills and things you do. No more jobs for life, or the company that takes care of you. It’s not productive. It’s history.

In the information age, a job will be a task/project that you do for a specific time, not a thing that you have for a lifetime.

I’ve said it 1000 times in different places, I’ll repeat again: There’s no job security, there’s only financial security. Aim for financial security, it’s directly in your control and you can achieve it by investing in your mindset.

9. Revolutions breed mistakes.

You can’t rely on historical information sources to give you a warning about how the world is changing and why. You have to figure it out for yourself. Because most people don’t know it either. During times of uncertainty (or when people come across a new incident and they don’t know what needs to be done), people look at each other. Very few who spot the revolution early thrive, but the rest all just survive.

10. The true wealth is in your mind – Your Mindset

Previously the main sources of wealth were material assets such as gold, gold mines, wheat fields, industry, factories, or oil wells. Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. In the industrial age, you could set up an industry or a company anywhere and make money. Today, you can set up an information center (a website, a Youtube channel, or a service center that solves problems) and make money from anywhere.

“Invest in yourself, it pays the best interest”