So I seem to have blinked and missed the last 4 months…I had to
temporarily abandon my beloved outlet of blogging in favour of something far
less appealing – morning sickness. Yep,
that’s right, there’s a mini questioning person on the way and we have a very
happy Speak household! With every intention of being a low maintenance preggo
lady, I have failed miserably thanks to relentless sickness that has been
testing my resilience and patience so I feel like most aspects of my life have
been paused…until now!
It’s such an exciting time for us and I’ve decided enough is enough, I
need to get some of me back otherwise I’m in danger of rapidly falling off the
proverbial cliff. So here goes…my first
blog in a while.
In the spirit of New Year, I thought I’d tackle the age old tradition
of setting those oh-so elusive resolutions and their value. I’m going to split this out into a couple of
different areas…
What’s stopping you?
Before January 1st, what stopped you making the changes
anyway? Apart from it being a moment in
time, what is the significance for you?
I’m not asking it flippantly – I know for some people it will hold a
heap of importance to start at that particular moment in time but if you’re not
one of them it’s worth having a think about why you haven’t made the change
until now. Will the reason still be
hanging around? What’s different for you
now? Don’t get yourself heading in the
direction of a road travelled over and over and never reaching your goal.
Advice and Input
Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and pretty much any media outlet /
celebrity has been rife with asking their ‘fans’ what their chosen changes are
going to be. It has always fascinated me
why it’s such a topic of conversation (I secretly think people are just looking
for ideas!) when actually I think they should be very personal, not something
of a competition. I guess everybody will
have their reasons and if it’s support to keep you on track you need I do get
it, but in my experience it’s less deep than that and just a conversation
filler. By answering this question
you’re immediately leaving yourself open to the inevitable…advice!! Are you ready to hear how your colleague’s
Great Aunt Maud lost all of her weight or how James in Accounts plans his
healthy eating? Probably not a
resounding yes!
I’m finding it increasingly more apparent that advice always comes from
the right place (well, most of the time) but what you actually end up doing is
your choice. How you lose the weight,
save the money, take more time out for you etc should come from what you want
to do. Fresh ideas and thinking are nice
but only for a period of time – I can guarantee if you continue to take in and
listen to everybody’s advice no matter what it’s regarding you will over
complicate what you’re trying to do. My advice (no irony intended)…keep it
simple!
If you spend proportionately too much time looking for input and
opinion, you’re most likely driving down the value of your resolutions (or any
idea for that matter) in the process – you’re heading on a path that wipes away
the reason you set them as they become watered down with other people’s
opinion. Use your judgement about when
to reduce the listening and crack on.
As you set your resolutions, ask yourself these questions…
·
Am I being clear about what I want to achieve?
·
Is my action plan mine or something I’ve
borrowed from someone else?
·
Will I know when I’ve achieved it? How will I
know?
· Who can help me?
So before you dash off to start writing your list, take some reflection time.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year, love me and a growing bump x
