Updated 2026: This post was originally written following 2020, and its references to the pandemic outlook and the status of my manuscript reflect that moment. I’ve updated the structure and formatting for October 2026 so it’s easier to read, and left the reflections as I wrote them.
TLDR: The disruption of 2020 pushed me to rethink how I make a living. After years of growing disillusioned with how many companies operate, I went independent, took on every role a one-person business needs, finished a novel manuscript I had put off for years, and made my mental health a daily priority. My advice from that year: find the central core of who you are and commit to the things that inspire and motivate you.
This goes without saying, but 2020 was a year unlike any other we’ve ever experienced in our lifetimes. The coronavirus pandemic turned the entire world on its head, disrupting what had been normalcy for as long as we knew, and forcing all of us to adapt to more sheltered, self-contained lifestyles.
Despite the dire circumstances, the effects of COVID-19 allowed many people, myself included, to rethink how we make a living. Adaptation led to self-reflection, which bred inspiration and, ultimately, creation. As hard as it is to look back on 2020 with a positive frame of mind, the unprecedented nature of how the entire world transformed opened the door for people like myself to take new chances and build new lifestyles.
Here are a few thoughts describing how I made it through the year unlike any other.
Inspiration and courage
When I use the word courage; in many ways, I’m describing the courage it takes to simply step outside the house and risk exposure to a deadly virus. The courage to get the household essentials, knowing full well that exposure to the wrong person could end with being on a ventilator in the hospital, is courage we all had to develop over the course of this last year.
But I’m speaking more about the courage to try new things with your career. As we were all confined to our homes and forced to work remotely, I found courage through my inspiration to strike out on my own to become an independent worker. Over the course of the last few years, I had grown increasingly disillusioned with how many companies operate and, particularly, how they treat their employees.
The nightmare scenario
Setting unrealistic growth expectations that are held over the heads of each employee and, then, implementing ridiculously burdensome processes to make it next to impossible to get anything done sets every single employee up to fail, and to be fired. Simply put: you cannot, as an employer, say with one breath that you want to achieve growth that takes your company to the moon in record timelines and then, in the next breath, be unwilling to put your money where your mouth is to do the work and get things done that will enable that growth.
If employers hope to be aggressive with growth, I have no problem with that. I’ve primarily worked in the startup space where every day is an aggressive bid to achieve growth. If you wish to grow fast, certainly, make it happen. But that’s the key; MAKE IT HAPPEN. You can’t say it’s something you would like to do, hold that demand over your entire staff’s heads, and then block any work from getting done. All that does is establish a culture of fear, mediocrity, and unrealistic expectations that end with bosses swinging the axe at good people who have been set up to fail by their companies.
Transforming disillusionment into empowerment
Having grown disillusioned with these environments, I decided to break the habit and go out on my own. It was a risky endeavour, especially in the midst of global uncertainty and calamity. Yet, ironically, I was empowered by my disillusionment, and inspired to find another way forward.
Taking a stand to do everything possible to support good hard-working people increased my belief in myself. I was assured in knowing that my position, as someone who puts the needs of his fellow people first, was the morally right thing to do, consequences be damned. That self-recognition motivated me to go out on my own as an independent professional who offers his services to companies and teams in need of support.
As my employee, I can now do the work that I want to do with people I choose to build professional relationships in service of building sustainable organic growth. I no longer need to fight the fights with delusional executives who are more cumbersome than supportive. I now rest assured that I’m helping each one of the people I work with move the needle on their trajectory paths forward. My own self-empowerment now serves to inspire and enable others to do more with their skills.
Creativity and passion
As I built my own independent business, I had to juggle many requirements. I became:
The face of a brand
A business strategist
The creative executioner
A makeshift sales prospector
Bookkeeper
Networking guru
Having worked in the startup industry for years, I was used to wearing multiple hats in any professional environment. As my own company, I had to take that experience and ramp it up to the nth degree to keep myself afloat.
Multiple hats bred more creativity
While I went about building the business, I also rediscovered my passion for personal creative projects. For years, I have (undoubtedly) bored people on end with talk of creating a manuscript for a novel to try my hand at a publishing career. I always kept putting that project on the shelf as I worked in my marketing career. I’d come home, burnt out from exhaustive and endless fights over a lack of progress in the company, and have no will to work on my own project.
All of that changed when I started working on my own without the burden of office politics that sapped the energy right out of me. I finally buckled down on my own creative work, and I’m proud of the fact that, in the midst of chaos in 2020, I finally completed my manuscript. As of the writing of this post, I’m in the process of pitching publishers across Canada and internationally in the hope of finding an agent who will help me turn this story into a book that many people can enjoy in their time.
Creative outlets developed rediscovered passions
What I’m most proud of about surviving the unknowns of 2020 is that I was able to break myself out of a professional rut and rediscover my own personal passion. I completed something I had longed to do for many years and, whether it becomes a published success or not, it’s an accomplishment that I can claim as my own for the rest of my life.
I think that’s one of the most important lessons of 2020: rediscovering passion and motivation. No matter whether your passion lies in advancing your professional career or in creating something of your own on the side, it’s critical to hang onto those passions and see them through. Passion is what makes us feel alive and motivates us to accomplish new things. Without passion, we may as well as be dead.
Mental health and positive energy
I’d say one of the most uplifting developments from the coronavirus pandemic is the amount of awareness and attention paid to mental health. Forced to spend most of our time locked in our homes throughout the year, we all had to learn how to redefine a work-life balance and maintain our own mental acuity in unprecedented times.
Making a commitment to mental development
As someone who has struggled with mental health conditions like anxiety and depression for most of his life, I made my own mental health a top priority throughout this chaotic year. I made significant effort towards stimulating my mind with creative and productive passions while investing more of my time and willpower towards positive energy.
I read more books about positive thinking and retraining the brain to change how my mind processes daily events. Furthermore, I committed more time to meditation and reflection so that I could develop a greater understanding of both myself and the circumstances of my life. Most importantly, I made a conscious effort to divest myself of as many negative thoughts and feelings as possible so that I could become someone with positive energy.
Emphasis on the natural instead of the material
A lot of that work was surprisingly easy too. I spent more time surrounded by nature, especially by water which I find to be a very calming element. I’d take breaks and go for walks outside to clear my head and allow the fresh air — or what passes for it in Toronto — to reset my inner thoughts so I could feel at one with the world around me.
It’s astonishing how much a simple walk outside and time spent basking in the elements can do to improve your own inner energy. Living in a condo doesn’t afford me much room to move around so I try to get outside as often as I can for exercise as well as regeneration. In only 20 to 30 minutes among the elements, I come back to my work feeling refreshed, refocused, and re-energized to get things done.
Final thoughts
2020 was a year unlike any other we’ve ever experienced, and the first half of 2021 will largely be the same. We’re all in a holding pattern until the newly developed vaccines inoculate enough people to stop the spread of COVID-19 so that we can emerge from our homes and rebuild a society once again.
But until that day comes, we can all find ways to make our own lives, and the lives of those in our communities a little better with fresh thinking. Adaptation might be one of the best words to describe 2020, and it’s through adaptation that both I and I know many others have redefined how we make our ways in this world.
If there’s one piece of advice I can give to anyone who made it this far into my long-winded self-reflection, it’s this: find that central core of yourself and be true to whom you really are. Commit to doing the things that you want to do; that inspire you, that motivate you, and that allow you to feel passionate about your lot in life. When you feel a sense of self-satisfaction and personal accomplishment, the world can literally fall apart all around you and it won’t matter. You will feel empowered like never before, and you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Gary Parkinson go independent in 2020?
I went independent after growing increasingly disillusioned with how many companies operate and how they treat their employees. Confined to home and working remotely during the pandemic, I found the courage to strike out on my own as an independent professional offering my services to companies and teams in need of support.
What roles does an independent marketer take on?
Running my own independent business meant becoming the face of a brand, a business strategist, the creative executioner, a makeshift sales prospector, a bookkeeper, and a networking guru. Years of working in the startup industry had already taught me to wear multiple hats, and going independent meant taking that experience to the nth degree to keep myself afloat.
How did working independently change Gary Parkinson's creative life?
Working without the burden of office politics gave me the energy to finally buckle down on my own creative work. In the midst of the chaos of 2020, I completed the manuscript for a novel I had put on the shelf for years.
How did Gary Parkinson look after his mental health in 2020?
I made my mental health a top priority through reading about positive thinking, meditating and reflecting, and consciously letting go of negative thoughts. I also spent more time in nature, especially near water, and found that 20 to 30 minutes outside left me feeling refreshed, refocused, and re-energized for work.
What was the biggest lesson from 2020?
Find the central core of yourself and be true to whom you really are. Commit to the things that inspire and motivate you and that make you feel passionate about your life because that sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment can make you feel empowered and ready for anything.
Work with Gary
If you’re looking for a fractional content partner who has built a business on these principles, book a call.
