It's mid-January and it can be a tough time for sticking to your New Year resolutions. It's cold and grey outside, and whilst you might have started the year with the best of intentions, your motivation could be flagging a bit by now.
Maybe you made a resolution to get healthy, or make more time for self care, or take up a new hobby, or finally think about changing career or starting a business. And you wanted this to TO BE IT. 2019 was the year that it was all going to finally happen for you.
And whilst that vision we create for ourselves about how our new life is going to be can feel exciting and intoxicating, it can also sometimes make us unrealistic about how long those goals will take to achieve.
Life starts to get in the way. A stressful work assignment comes in, one of the kids gets sick, the boiler packs up and you need to pay for a plumber, the house needs cleaning etc etc.
And so your good intentions to make a change go to the bottom of your 'to do' list, you lose motivation and start to feel discouraged.
However I want to step in here and say that THIS IS TOTALLY NORMAL.
All you need to do is have a reality check about how much time you have available, and how long the process of change might actually take.
With career change for example, I often have to remind my clients that their journey towards a more meaningful career is precisely that… a journey. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when searching for meaningful work is to expect to find the ONE BIG THING straightaway. The mythical unicorn job that will make all of their problems disappear.
And what I’ve observed from walking through this process with many clients is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to creating a career and life you love. It can be tough at times, take longer than you think, and you may need to try out a few different ideas and avenues before finding the perfect one for you.
So don’t get downhearted, just persevere and stay open to the new opportunities and experiences which will inevitably come your way. Break it all down into baby steps and ask yourself:
What is ONE small thing that I could fit in this week to move closer to my goal?
When exactly could I do this (day? time?)
What might stop me from doing this? Is it something practical, or something emotional? Where could I get some support to overcome this?
You can 100% get there, just be patient with yourself.
Chat soon,
Juliette
