Your Plan for the Year Ahead
If you’ve set goals to improve areas of your life the five points below will set the framework to help you with your “life cleanse”.
1. Reset Your Body & Mind
Scenario: You’re tired of looking in the mirror seeing the same reflection that is unmotivated, not smiling back at you, and lacking the inspiration to go forward with your day. Instead you sigh and think “oh well, it is what it is” and continue on (possibly berating yourself for that extra glass of wine, not getting to sleep earlier or snoozing through the alarm).
Now it’s time to create a consistent real-life routine that supports your body & mind.
2. Review Your Financial Well-being
Scenario: Agh, money! This one makes you cringe at the thought of the next credit card bill arriving in your inbox. Those “just have it” purchases during the holidays are now catching up with you and it’s bringing with it heightened anxiety to the point it makes you feel physically sick. You’ve avoided dealing with the financial plan for the last year so now it is time to get real, it’s time to bring in what you are worth! It’s time to take charge and own your financial direction and planning, one-step-at-a-time.
3. Re-assess Your Career
Scenario: The thought of heading back to work fills you with dread. Do I work from home or do I go into the office? Whilst it would be great to see peers and catch up the thought of the whole day at work adds to the anxiety you are already experiencing and you wonder why you didn’t put more effort into the job search last year. You’ve found you have a new routine that fits a daily morning routine that used to be consumed by commuting and you are more productive and the fear of this changing makes you want to change jobs. Now is the opportunity to evaluate what’s working and what can be improved; job change or not.
4. Re-store Your Life
Scenario: Your life is compartmentalised, you attempt to keep work and life separate. You enjoy spending time with friends, yet often find you are comparing yourself to those around you and wishing you had made different decisions so you’d be in a different/better place now. You constantly wonder what the future will bring and planning, that’s just too hard. Your life links to a cycle and the cycle for you right now is overwhelming, you know this part of your life needs attention, you just don’t know where or how to start.
It’s time to remove the overwhelm and create the life you really want to live, to thrive not just survive.
5. Re-evaluate Relationships
Scenario: You’ve got friends, family and peers in your life, maybe a partner or significant other, yet you feel disconnected at times and would like to have deeper and more meaningful relationships. Your relationship with yourself is often a rollercoaster ride and being hard on yourself, with high expectations is normal.
It’s time to find the right tribe, identify who lights you up, makes you smile and supports you (as much as you support them).
You’re a hig achiever and wonder if “it’s” ever going to happen!
Every year at this point in time you get to this point reflecting on what has been and where you are going and wonder what is next?
If by this point you are feeling emotionally drained, you’re in the right place. It’s time to “listen to your body”.
We know our bodies are smart, correct? So why do we continue to ignore the signs and warnings, relentlessly pushing harder thinking we’ll reach some holy grail of a “balanced life”. Balance and reality are not friends. When you consider balance, think of the see-saw in the park, one side is always higher or lower than the other; and if there is balance, it’s literally for a fleeting moment.
Here’s my three pillars give you the platform to living a satisfying, fulfilling and harmonious life:
1. Your Work & Life Synergy plan 2. Your Mental Hygiene plan
3. Your Burnout Prevention plan
Work & Life Synergy vs Balance
If there is no balance then does that mean there is no hope? Once you identify that finding “balance and reality” don’t work then you can move forward and create what is achievable and that’s “work & life synergy”, where you set the framework to lean in when need be, preparing and setting points to re-group and establish boundaries that will protect you and what’s important to you, whilst retaining the ability to be productive and focused to deliver outcomes. Changes in the way we work and live have expedited the options to apply work and life in synergy.
Your Mental Hygiene
Mental Health has gone through a massive de-stigmatisation. Whilst some have suffered for years in silence and experiencing judgement, many have just experienced what it’s like to struggle with mental health challenges, specifically what it’s like to feel extreme lows where you stop caring, have zero focus and consider that opting out of life is a solution. This is why a mental hygiene plan is essential for everyone.
Considering your mental hygiene practice being similar to the exercise we do to keep our bodies fit and strong, you’ve got the idea behind the importance of supporting and exercising the mind in a preventative way. The combination of meditation, nutrition, stress reduction, anxiety triggers and mindset management combined with our overall outlook on life & work are contributing factors that form an integral part in developing a consistent mental hygiene plan that contributes to your preventative health and prevents the spiral into a full mental health breakdown. There is no health without mental hygiene.