As a coach, I sometimes expect myself to go in for a very goal focused ‘hit the ground running’ sort of start to the New Year. One full of resolutions, ready to launch plans, vigour and verve.
Afterall, coaching is all about change and identifying new goals and actions – it’s what I help other people to do, so surely January should see me being all over this kind of stuff?
Yet, at the very time of year when so many people are adopting the ‘New Year, New You’ language, I find myself retreating from it.
I admit that this could be my natural resistance to being told what to do or feel, but it still creates a sense of pressure to be a better or different me or to have already worked out all my plans for the months/year ahead.
Rather than seeing the change in date as an opportunity to get out there and get on it, I see it as a time for reflection.
Yes, the usual day to day commitments are all still there, but in the quieter moments in my head I want to be kind to myself, to take time to think of what next but in a more gentle way, away from the fads and abstinence trends.
To let any unanswered questions and jumbled thoughts surface and to consider where I want to put my energy.
To allow myself to think big picture but also in small achievable and ongoing steps…..not some great declaration at the start of the year.