The holiday season provides an opportunity to slow down. “Why would I want to slow down?” you ask. There are so many reasons:
- Recharge your batteries
- Spend time with loved ones; in person, on the phone, via Zoom or FaceTime
- Get grounded, especially doing something with your hands: bake, cook, garden, paint or try a new creative endeavor
- Reflect. Thinking time!
Of these, perhaps my favorite at this time of year is taking time to reflect. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I don’t even have time to think!” A mentor once recommended having a weekly time blocked out for thinking, and that every 3-6 months, I take a “Thinking Vacation”. It was great advice. Every Friday afternoon, I have a couple of hours blocked off to do just that. At least one of the vacations my husband and I take each year provides ample time to think.
As you reflect on 2020, despite the numerous challenges, what have you accomplished? Have you celebrated your successes? If not, how will you celebrate them? By when? Take a look at what you’ve finished and what may be incomplete. Where can you improve or perhaps put in place structures or systems and processes to support you going forward? Where might you be out of alignment with your goals, your values, your life purpose? What can you shift to get back in alignment and on track? What might you want to let go of or delegate? Where can you lean in with your “zone of genius” (from The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks).
What will you create in the New Year? As a brilliant client stated this morning during our coaching session, “Goals without plans are just dreams.” What are your commitments (not resolutions – more on that in a future blog) for 2021? Identify those that truly call to you and start to create a plan.
If you’re stuck, or feel like you haven’t accomplished anything this year (other than self flagellation for not accomplishing that which you intended), call me! Let’s talk about 2020 from a place of self-compassion and grace, and uncover your successes, even if they weren’t your intended outcomes. Together we can create your plan for 2021 so that at this time next year, you’re experiencing fulfillment and satisfaction, rather than frustration and disappointment.
Please take exquisite care of yourself!