Monday, 20 January 2014

A very happy New Year!

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!

So?
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

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