How many times have you set yourself a goal only to find a few weeks later you haven’t even taken the first step towards it?
And then you try not to think about it, so you don’t feel guilty about it?
I know I have!
And as a Naturopath I hear it all the time from my clients.
There are so many of us that have experienced this thought pattern. Luckily with thought patterns they can be changed over time, so you can keep creating goals and achieve them in a new way.
The two key words for setting goals that I like to focus on when working with my clients is:
SIMPLE
ACHIEVABLE
I’m all about being realistic and if it’s easy to do and can fit simply into your lifestyle then it will be achievable.
This year I decided that I would choose two words for 2022 that would be my foundations for my future goals.
Those two words are:
FREEING
FUN
I’m not one for spending days writing a years’ worth of goals but I was finding myself before the new year getting swept up with the social media storm to set your goals for 2022 with people suggesting using their planner, journal or diary to get yourself organised.
If you love setting goals this way that’s totally fine but it makes me anxious.
Over Christmas and New Year, I had a lovely holiday (and decided to extend it into mid-January) at home and at the river. In the back of my mind though, I was thinking I should do some work and get ready for the year ahead, but I came back to my 2022 foundational words and remembered what I wanted to achieve and feel, and I knew that I needed that extra relaxing and resetting time.
I have also started working one-on-one with my coach, Sonia Bavistock
Rewind to last year, I did Sonia’s 100-day practice as part of her mastermind, during which I had chosen to do daily walks without any devices, so I could really get grounded and enjoy what nature has to offer.
Fast forward to our January coaching call, Sonia asked me how my energy was going now, and my answer was: “I haven’t been doing my walking, so I’ve gone backwards. My energy isn’t as good, but it isn’t feeling as low as before I started my 100-day practice.”
Sonia pointed out that I haven’t fallen as far backwards as I thought. I felt better than my previously lower energy, and that’s something to celebrate, because I’m actually restarting from a higher foundation.
The reason I tell you this story is because at this time of year especially, if you haven’t taken that first step towards your new year’s resolutions or goals, you may feel like you’ve “dropped the ball” or “fallen off the wagon”.
If that’s you, right about now you’re probably feeling like your goals are out of reach, you’ve undone all your hard work from last year, you’re starting from zero again or you feel like such a failure.
But I’m here to tell you that you haven’t fallen that far behind. You have allowed yourself time to rest and relax and to indulge a lit bit.
Which you are absolutely allowed to do. In fact, it’s essential!
And now the year has started, and we all have to get back to normal routine, it can take a while to fire up the motors and kick back into gear. Some people do it faster than others but it doesn’t matter what speed others are going at because we are all so unique and individual.
You go at your own pace that is appropriate to you.
And what we get to prove to ourselves is that we can get back into this normal routine and in actual fact we didn’t fall as far backwards as we thought, because of all the work we have done previously that has raised our foundation.
We are starting from a different level, from a raised foundation. So realistically you haven’t gone backwards, you’re starting at a new level of your foundation which is higher than it was before.
So, to all the clients I’m currently looking after and to all the other lovely women out there…
Celebrate yourself, be proud of what you’re currently achieving and always know that you’re moving forward because it’s the small steps that lead to great achievement.
To your health and wellness
Marianne x