It's hard to believe that we have entered the third year of this pandemic life. As noted in this episode, I tried to take a more mindful approach to the new year.
Recording the episode was quite cathartic; I realised the primary motivation behind my approach was to embrace the mindful concepts of acceptance and letting go and see where the journey took me.
- I accepted my thoughts without judgement and restriction. I made time in my schedule to reflect, write but not immediately action.
- I questioned my assumptions and challenged myself to think differently. Why should I do the same things as in previous years? What am I missing or not considering? What worked last year and what didn't.
All of which is quite a departure from the usual methods of new year's resolutions or goal setting and planning, but it was effective because it's what I needed at the time.
And that's my key message for this week - we are clearly living in unprecedented times, so why would our old or conventional methods work? Don't be afraid to prompt yourself to change things up. And that applies to any short or long term planning activity.
- Do you have a plan you are comfortable with? Where is the tension or disconnect?
- What feeling are you chasing? What does success look like?
- What do you need to do differently in 2022?
Take some time to reflect and challenge yourself to learn from the past, good and bad. In this third year, it's more important than ever to focus on self-care and looking after yourself.
The quote often attributed to Albert Einstein is "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.".
Maybe insanity is too harsh in this context - because it might be easier to do the same as yesterday, but only if you're happy with the results of yesterday.