Happy Not So New Year. If you are reading this, I hope the year started off on a great note for you and if it didn’t, I pray it gets better.
Sharing a recap of the past year was a tough exercise for me because there were many parts of 2021 I didn’t want to relive but I did and in the process, I realised that on a macro scale, 2021 was a good year. I fared much better than I did in 2020 even though we are still living through an uncertain and challenging period with the pandemic proving to be unstoppable.
2021 marked my 10th year working in Public Relations if I factor the three months pre-NYSC internship with FAB Magazine in 2011. However, I got my first full time job with a PR agency in 2012. Either way, I mark a decade in the industry in both 2021 and 2022. I wrote an article here that could be helpful for someone looking to build a career in Public Relations.
After 2022, I’m looking to make a career pivot. I’m still oscillating between Private Equity, filmmaking, fabric design or fabric manufacturing. These are some of my interests but if I remain in Public Relations, I’ll like to explore investor relations. I’m starting with an MBA programme later in the year and see where the ship docks from there.
This article is about my 2021 recap and not 2022 plans so let me stay on course. As the Lead Consultant on the MTN portfolio, my team grew our annual revenue by over 100% in 2021 this wasn’t because we made tonnes of cash but we became more efficient in our execution, shalla to our Principal Consultant for his guidance.
We executed about 40 campaigns, managed two almost-crisis situations and increased media coverage by over 55% YoY.
These are some highlights of the year, now to the finer details.
Learning & Development
Save for reading all TC Daily newsletters and some Stears Business articles, I didn’t take any professional courses in 2021. I prepared for and sat for the GRE as part of the requirements for my MBA programme and signed up for a lot of PRCA’s webinars. However, I’m committing to taking a professional course per quarter (ambitious) better still bi-anually till I switch careers.
Travel
I didn’t travel outside Nigeria in 2021. I travelled to Abuja twice, both times for work assignments and got to sneak in family time in between. I should add that I met a minister and a Governor during these trips, well technically I didn’t meet them but we were in the same room for a meeting, that counts for something, right? The Naira is still on a freefall so I do not plan to take any overseas vacations as all funds are going towards my MBA.
Diet & Exercise
I exercised absolutely no form of discipline with my diet in 2021 (excuse the pun). I lived on Chicken Republic for most of the year and drank sodas like my life depended on it. At this point I need an intervention to be able to clean out my diet, I’m hoping an Eden Life subscription will help me retrack. I logged over 200km on Nike Run but I did it mainly for how good I felt after each run aka runners’ high. I didn’t renew my gym subscription nor work out with my PT all through 2021. I achieved this by avoiding a scale for the entire year. I hope to 10x my runs and go back to working out regularly this year.
Health
I often joke about going through a mental breakdown but I experienced it in 2021 and it was ugly. It felt like my brain had reached its max capacity; I’d have to read a mail 5x to make sense of it and pace around like 10x to be able to construct two coherent sentences and I was always exhausted from dawn to dusk no matter how much I ate or how loud I turned on the stereo. I experienced this for two to three months in the mid-year and kept thinking it was a bad time to take time off work. Soon, my blunders became too apparent and my boss asked me to take some time off. I saw a therapist and also learnt some coping mechanisms that could help me combat stress. I promise you I’ve forgotten everything the therapist told me during those sessions. However, that period also helped me realise how privileged I was; to have a job I could take time off and everything still ran smoothly, received full pay, etc. Folks, whatever you do, do not let yourself burn out, because you end up losing more than you were trying to protect. I also had a surgery last year and wrote about it here. I’m supposed to have another but I’m postponing till it becomes crucial. My mum says I can also pray for a miracle, I’m not sure which is easier…
Blunders
I’m typically at peace with making mistakes as long as I take learnings from it but I sent out one newsletter last year that ranked high on the list of blunders. I’ll not be sharing the link or describing further what this newsletter was about. My prayer remains that there’s no version of this error in my future as I may not be able to recover from it.
Looking ahead
I want to consolidate my leadership skills this year. I want to be equal parts inspiring and respected. In the past, I was okay with working with people who disrespected me, I’d brush off the snide comments and obvious disregard but I’m learning to stop tolerating. I’m setting KPIs with my team, so that anyone who’s unable to meet them will clearly see they have no place in the team. Usually, we’d work through a quarter then collate reports and see that voila we aced the last results but I want to try something different; I want us to work towards a goal. I think that way each person can track their growth as well.
My word (phrase) for the year is #ToConquer. I’ll write more of this in a subsequent article.
Happy 2022 everyone. I wish you a year of growth and good health. We can connect on LinkedIn here.