2020 Summary
2020 was definitely the year of Covid.
The entire world basically stopped and had to face a new, invisible enemy. We had a few lockdowns, which in hindsight have been very useful to help build up my savings account and work on myself, my business, and my relationships.
Looking back now, I am very happy of how I was able to face the adversities and challenges this year has brought with it, and what I will remember as my first economic crisis as a business owner.
How did I grow as a person? friend? manager?
I took on more responsibility
Times of crisis call for someone to lead. While in my business it was the natural thing for me to do, to take charge and be the leader my team needed, for my personal life it wasn’t so easy to understand at first.
The signals were many and all around me, I just had to pay attention to them. I decided to take responsibility for my own happiness and also for the happiness of those closest to me that weren’t taking any action and were just stuck.
In the end I think it paid off and everyone in my personal circle is happier now.
I became better at handling my emotions
I’m still constantly practicing Stoic philosophy and this is something I’ve been struggling with for a long time. But it’s gotten better in the past year or so.
I am now more self-aware, if something happens I can just pause, look at it objectively and decide what action to take or whether I am going to let it influence my mood or not.
It’s a super power and it’s why I love Stoicism, but it’s also a lifelong pursuit.
I became more patient and empathetic
Similar to the point above but this is more geared toward other people. During lockdown we were all in the same boat, all stuck at home with not much to do, not much privacy if at all and we all had to deal with it.
This taught me how to be more understanding towards others and their personal issues and the things they were going through.
Most of all, it taught me not to take offense or to take someone else’s reaction personally.
How could I have been better?
As a person I could have helped the community more, I could have been more thoughtful of others and I could have probably done more to help.
As a friend/family member, I could’ve spent more time with the ones I love and care about. I could have gotten in touch more with friends and family in Italy whom I don’t see often. I could’ve been more patient, understanding, and generous, especially when money is involved.
As a manager, I could have listened to my team more, try to be proactive, and provided them with more guidance instead of having them figure things out as they went. I could have shown my appreciation for their work more. I could have been more proactive and done something concrete for their health, and energy levels.
Insights/lessons learned from 2020
Don’t take things or people for granted
Covid showed how both material, things but especially people and your own freedom can be taken away. The only thing I really control is my own choice as the Stoics say.
Listen more
The only way you can help someone who’s going through a hard time is by providing support and listening to them and making yourself seen and heard as often as you can. Don’t try to teach them or impart lessons, just listen and lead by example.
See the positives
I can always choose to make the best of what I have at any time. Even with covid, we were able to have great and fun experiences and enjoy what I had available.
Don’t try to change people
Love people for who they are and don’t try to change them. Find what they offer you that you can’t find anywhere else and appreciate that.
Trust the first impression more
The first impression you have of new people you meet is usually right. Some people are also way better than others at judging people and their character.
Commit more
If you take on a commitment, be ready to follow through and take ownership of anything that comes out of it. More importantly, do it with a smile on your face, you choose to do it and you can choose to end it if you wish.
Be creative
I need a creative outlet. I need a place where I can be creative, write, play music, dream, and explore new ideas, but most of all, a place where I can publish those things to the world. This blog is that place.
The good stuff
What were my major milestones or moments? What accomplishments am I most proud of?
Got Delorean on the road and completed all major work on it
After buying my Delorean at the end of 2019, I spent most of my free time in 2020 working on it (myself and with other people) to get it back on the road and fully enjoy it. Covid, unfortunately, ruined my travel plans a bit, but I was still able to drive it quite a lot here in the UK and have enjoyed some nice weekend trips with my partner.
Most of all, owning this car has been one of my life goals since I was 10 years old and being able to accomplish it so soon made me really happy and proud of myself.
Working on the car has also become one of my new hobbies, I love the manual work involved and it helps to take a break from the computer work.
Got Growth Gorilla to $20k/month + opened limited company
Besides some uncertainty in the first month or two after covid started, the business has been going really well for the rest of 2020, better than ever actually and we reached an important milestone of $20,000/month in revenue.
I also officially opened my limited company, OUTATIME LTD (love that the name was available btw), I am now employed by myself, weird but good at the same time 😅
Spent a month in Italy in the summer while working only 1/2 hours per day max
This, for me, was a major milestone. In the first 2/3 years of starting the agency, I’ve basically worked non-stop besides taking a few days off around Christmas and the other major holidays.
Summer 2020 was the first time in a while I was able to take a full month “off”. Off at this point means that I could only work 1/2 hours each day (some days I was indeed fully off) because I had a team supporting me and doing the work.
I guess this is what running a business feels like.
Made new friends
The Delorean also brought new friends with her! I met a lot of amazing people in and around the club as well as at (the very few) car meetings and days out I was able to do.
Some of the guys have become very close with and we (try to) have regular car meetings in the area.
A special mention goes to Tyler, a kid from my town Winchester. His mom saw my car on Facebook and asked if I could take it to them to show it to her son Tyler.
I honestly can’t wait for people to give me an excuse to drive the car so that’s what I did I loved meeting Tyler and seeing how happy he was seeing and checking out the car.
Moved to a new home with my partner
After 3 years in the UK and living with my partner and my brother, we finally moved into our own place. The best thing in all of this (besides the obvious privacy as a couple) is that I now have my own home office (which I’m turning into an 80’s room) and my garage close to the house. Joking (partially), I also love having more privacy to be with my partner!
Started working with Jake Jorgovan as an advisor
With covid and everything else, I got into a bit of a rut and was feeling stuck both in the business and in my personal life.
I decided to start working with Jake as an advisor in the coming months and it’s been a great experience. He helped me get clarity on what to pursue and accountability to achieve my goals.
Ran my second half marathon
This wasn’t planned as a goal, but since I basically kept running all year (one of my excuses to get out of the house during lockdown), I found myself randomly running a half marathon while supporting my friend James as he was running his full marathon.
The bad stuff
COVID, obviously
No point in repeating it again, but yes, COVID has been the worst thing of 2020. Not being 100% free to travel especially has been terrible.
As an Italian living in the UK, you can imagine how badly my family misses and wants to see me and for me as well, it’s hard not to be able to go visit at least a few times/year.
Thankfully though, things got a bit better in the summer and I was able to spend almost a month with family and friends I gotta say it’s been an amazing summer on that front.
That’s basically it, can’t really think of anything else bad that’s happened in 2020 for me personally, and I’m grateful for that.
What was I grateful for?
Family, friends, and loved ones
I am grateful for all of the people I love and care about, my partner Spring, my family, and friends for being supportive and helping me go through this time in a relatively easy way.
In times like this, being surrounded by people you love, really helps.
The time I took for myself
During the various lockdowns and quarantine periods, I was finally able to actually take some time for myself, to do some thinking, reflecting, and writing. I finally was able to be quite consistent with my daily journaling and routine.
I found a system that (for now) works for me and I stuck with it. This has been really helpful to shed some light on what my values are and how to better handle everything that life throws at me.
I also went back to running more or less seriously. I ran my second half-marathon in November and kept running at least 2/4 times a week for the whole year.
I also learned to appreciate the simple things like being able to go out for a run mid-day or whenever I want, all thanks to my job and the freedom it allows.
A few other simple things (that we usually take for granted) I learned to appreciate are:
- Good weather
- Especially in the UK, any day the sun is shining is now a blessing, which allows me to go running or work at the car with no issues.
- My health
- In a time where people are dying every day, appreciating my health and the fact that I had the “luxury” of going out and exercising, of working from home, has become the norm in my daily journaling.
My team at Growth Gorilla
2020 is also the first year where our team at Growth Gorilla has grown quite a lot and I’m super thankful to everyone on the team.
RJ, Tamara, Mirko, Jesa, Cathy, Jasper, and the new arrival Jelena, thank you guys so much! I couldn’t have made it without you and you really helped to get the agency to what it is now.
Technology and how it makes life better
I also want to spend a minute to thank all the people who have contributed to making software and products to make our online work easier.
Seeing the world at a standstill, paralyzed by this virus with the economy on the brink of destruction, really made me realize how lucky I am to be able to work online, from home with people from all over the globe.
Couldn’t have done it without all the software products we use daily but mostly the people who have created them for us all to leverage.
COVID etc
Though COVID was a pain in the ass, in a way I’m also thankful for it. It taught us all a few lessons on humility, generosity, balance and courage. One thing I know for sure is it helped me and many others save money and really think about what our priorities are in life.
Intentions & goals for 2021
What I’m going to keep doing
What habits, people, routines, or environments supported me in reaching my goals?
Habits:
Exercise + reading + taking time off to work on Delorean and quiet my mind
People:
My partner and my brother – supported me and energized me in these difficult times.
Friends in Winchester – pushed me to do better at running and we ran the half marathon together, we were able to hang out for drinks a couple of times this year and it’s been really fun. Looking forward to COVID easing so we can do more of it.
Delorean friends – helped a ton with Delorean work and pushed me to try doing the work myself and to succeed. Also very good fun.
Routines:
Daily journaling – it’s been really good for me to start being more introspective and self-aware of my own thoughts and emotions. It gave me clarity.
Stoic philosophy has been an incredible help throughout the year and I will continue practicing it.
Environments:
My new home office is already helping a lot to let me have the tranquillity and calm I need to work from home
Cafes have been good places to do creative work, brainstorm, and take some time off from the house.
Nature has been great to re-focus, re-energize and re-align when I feel stuck, so a walk or a run is always great for this.
How do I lean into these next year?
- Keep exercising and set more ambitious goals for it. Most times I’ve stopped doing something, it was because my goals weren’t ambitions or big enough.
- Spend more time exercising with friends, and seek them out more. I realized that creating accountability and a sense of challenge are super important to keep me motivated.
- Keep daily journaling, improve it and remove the unnecessary. I love my daily journaling practice with Roam Research and I will continue iterating and improving it as I go and experiment.
- I can improve my home office to stimulate creativity and comfort, functionality. The idea is to transform it into an 80s-themed room with movie posters, my Back to the future collections and a bunch of other cool things.
- I can schedule specific kinds of work on specific days of the week when I go to a cafe to change my environment. (if covid allows)
- I can create a “reset routine” where maybe I go for a walk and listen to podcasts etc. to gain focus and energy back after something has drained me.
What I don’t want to do
What habits, people, routines, or environments prevented me from reaching my goals?
Habits
Create processes that are too complex just for the sake of process but that over time I will stop using and will get outdated.
Set arbitrary goals that don’t mean anything to me and my values, which happens mostly when I think about “what other people would do”, which is wrong and detrimental.
Unhealthy eating mostly in the evening and at night. I’m pretty bad at this, lunch is easy, but dinner is not. After a full day of work and exercise, I feel like I “deserve” the junk food and proceed to either order dominos’s pizza or eat a bunch of sweets and desserts or cookies after dinner.
I know this is bad especially because it impacts my sleep which in turn, impacts my days.
Always say “yes” to people
As the business grew and as I made new friends, some people started seeking my attention more and sometimes, at the wrong time. This has impacted my work a bit and because I like to be nice to everyone I kept saying yes.
I want to become better at saying “No” when the timing is not right.
How do I remove these blockers next year?
- I must let people know when the timing is not right and be deliberate about the time I take for creative or deep work.
- I must consider my values and practicality when creating processes, and routines to make them more useful but also more accessible and as frictionless as possible.
- I need to stop buying junk food. Not having it in the house helps not feel the need to eat it. I can also try to find some other way to reward myself for the good productive days instead of using food. I could read a nice book for example, or watch a nice movie.
What I want to do
These are the 10 main areas of my life ordered by priority and importance to me personally, at the moment. For each of them, I wrote down my main goals for the next year.
Physical health
Try 1-month vegetarian food and monitor energy levels
I really want to give this a try and see how it goes. The book “Stress-Proof” talks about the connection between junk food and meat to inflammation and stress. I’m interested to see if by doing this, my energy levels improve.
Run a full marathon with a friend
I’ve been running almost daily for a while now and have done 2 half marathons. The full marathon is the natural next step and I goal that will motivate me to keep running.
Strength/muscle exercise min 2 times/week
I know running alone won’t get rid of my belly fat and since I don’t like going to the gym, this is probably the best way to get that done.
Mental health
Go to 10-day silent meditation retreat
I haven’t been able to make a meditation stick yet and my brother has suggested I give this a try. I have felt some kind of small benefit from meditation and I think this could be the solution to help me fully add it to my routine in a meaningful way.
Finances
Invest in Cryptocurrencies
I started investing in Crypto halfway through 2020 and already have considerable gains form it. The more I learn about it the more interesting it becomes as well, which is a good sign and I want to keep doing more in this space.
Relationships
Call friends in Italy more often
I miss my friends back in Italy and not being able to see them in person has been the worst. If the situation continues, I want to hear from them more often.
Plan more drinks, board games, or movie nights with friends (when covid allows)
I want to keep building my small circle of friends here in Winchester and have really enjoyed our nights out (and in the house) so far.
Book monthly chat calls with interesting new people
I feel if I want to grow and improve both as a person and as a business owner, I need to get in touch with more people who are ahead of me but aligned with my vision.
I could ask these people to get on quick video calls to chat, provide some value to them with what I know, and hopefully get some value from them.
Family
Call family more often
For now, the only way I can be closer to family in Italy is to call and text them. I accept the situation as it is since it’s mostly out of my control and I want to do a better job at this.
Creativity
Learn blues guitar
I’ve always loved blues, but (being a punk rocker) I never took the time to dive deeper into this guitar style. With more free time on my hands and more time to spend at home, this is something new and fun that can stimulate my creativity.
Work
Growth Gorilla
Get to $50k/month in revenue with Growth Gorilla
I still do believe that we, as a link-building agency, can do better work, find better clients and be really proud of what we do. I see a lot of areas for improvement and of differentiation from other agencies who are doing similar work.
I initially thought of trying a different service model, but after a few (failed) experiments, i realize, what we have is good. It just needs to become great.
Create and launch my first link-building online course
This is something challenging and exciting that I’ve never done before. I also see it as a good entry-level product for someone who doesn’t have the budget to hire us but would still like to get started with link-building.
Above it all, it could also be a form of semi-passive income.
This site – alansilvestri.me
Complete 30 day writing challenge with Chris
Starting this month, I’ll be doing a 30 days writing challenge with my brother, Chris. I’m doing this for 3 main reasons:
- To explore my ideas
- To improve my writing
- To practice consistency in creativity
Publish 10 quality articles on the blog
Same as the above (could use some of the ideas from the challenge and develop them into articles).
Create online course/membership for personal site
This could be something on productivity/stoicism/Delorean or I don’t know what else. I want to explore ideas in my writing and maybe I’ll find something that people are really interested in learning about and I could possibly develop into a course.
Fun
Most of my fun-related goals involve other people and (hopefully) soon, planning nights out or in the house.
Don’t consider this a goal, but I also got a bit back into playing video games when Cyberpunk 2077 came out and I think I’ll keep doing that in my free time when all else (friends, books) isn’t available.
Travel
Delorean road trip to Italy with my partner next spring/summer
I want to drive the Delorean all the way from the UK to Italy, possibly stopping for a few days in France, with my partner. This could be a great way to visit family while at the same time having a fun and exciting trip.
The challenge of driving a 40 year old car 1.5k miles both ways is also part of the fun.
Go to a remote place by the end of 2021 with my partner
After a year spent in the house with mostly the same people around us, I’d love to be able to travel to some remote location. We’d probably avoid the common touristy places and opt for something more “exotic”. We’ll see.
Conclusion
That’s it! It took me almost a week to complete this review and I’m super happy I took the time. This is the first time ever I do something this comprehensive and I wish I had started years ago.
Special thanks to Nat Eliason for sharing Anthony Gustin‘s amazing annual review template.