Today, I witnessed a powerful breakthrough as I was coaching a CEO of a trust firm who described herself as overworked, overwhelmed and lonely, I found myself telling her of a quote I had read the other day which hit me straight between the eyes… “What would it look like if it were easy?” See, she had told herself that if she worked more, beat herself harder, she would finally have the life she wanted. Instead, she was frazzled, exhausted, depleted and lonely. I asked her, “what would it look like to nurture yourself, give yourself permission to have fun, go light instead of hard? Simplify, instead of adding more and more tasks? What do you like to do for fun?
Her voice immediately changed… she went from heavy to excited, there was laughter in her voice as she talked about how she loved to dance but hadn’t done so for so long… She had thought she had to go to the gym like everyone else but she hated it. She gave herself permission to enjoy movement by doing what was easy and enjoyable. She hadn’t laughed for a long time.
That is my invitation to you today… Reflect on these 5 alternatives to the traditional new year’s resolutions and note what resonates with you. You don’t have to do what everyone is doing. Do what works for you. We can do hard things, yes… but as hardworking professionals, the hard thing for us this time would be to do what feels easy.
What if it look like for you to have an easy year? Give yourself permission to reflect on this.
(As always, if you want to go deeper, coaching is an option. I have a few open spots in my coaching practice. If you resonate with my lens and need support with thriving in 2018, let’s connect.
For more, here is a great article on alternatives to new years resolutions.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201712/5-alternatives-traditional-new-years-resolutions