I don’t know what it is about September, but I always see it as month for a fresh start. Far more so than January. January is always so dark and miserable. I’m always short of cash after the extravagances of December and it’s such a long month until the next pay day – five weeks! Ouch.
September, on the other hand, seems to have greater possibilities.
Perhaps it’s something to do with the start of the new school year? Remember when you were at school, going back the autumn term? I always had an annual trip to WH Smiths (a stationary shop here in the UK), to buy a new pencil case, a set of coloured pens arranged in a rainbow, new pencils, rubber, pencil sharpener. The whole shebang. There’d be new shoes, a new school bag or briefcase. A time of new beginnings and anything was possible!
I still have that feeling now more than 30 years after leaving school. Thoughts like, what am I going to do for the next year? What is my ultimate goal to be achieved this next 12 months? How am I going to get there? What do I need to do in the next three months, six months in order to achieve it?
I use September as a time to rethink, refocus, reclarify what I want to do next. My ‘resolutions’ for want of a better word (for the record I NEVER set resolutions in January) are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and anchored (love this word) to a time frame. This is so useful. It stops me being overwhelmed by what needs to be done. Being overwhelmed means I do nothing (sound familiar?)
This year I want to spread my wings and find more associate work while building my private client base. I also want to look after myself better, do more exercise that brings me joy and not do exercise that is a slog. I am a sociable person. I like activities that bring in contact with people so I build relationships with them, rather than working out in isolation.
Having this self-awareness helps me make better – although not always successful – decisions about what I am going to do next.
What are you going to do next in the coming year? What are you thinking about? We are coming out of the lockdown mentality to the ‘returning-to-pre-covid’ normality. Are you considering a change? A new job perhaps? How will you find it? What might stop you identifying the right job? What thoughts are holding you back?
If you’d like to have a conversation about what you are thinking about, we can do that. I’m an impartial ear. There’s no obligation ‘to buy’, and our chat lasts 45 minutes. Drop me an email in September and start the journey that you want to go on – helen@helenfostercoaching.co.uk
