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One week in and I had to push pause today.
I don't know about you, but January is one of my least favorite months. The holidays are so full of joy with things to reflect on and look forward to that after New Years, I experience a bit of a mood drop.
A new year marks a beginning, full of possibility. And as a business owner, it means prepping for the next few months, even the entire year. Plus there's also personal goals for less clutter, more exercise, planning homeschool for the kids. It's a lot. It's...exhausting and I'm still a bit tired from December.
So here we are, 7 days in to 2021...the country is in upheaval, the pandemic is still raging and all of my goals and resolutions have lost a bit of luster. My motivation is wobbly for sure.
And then I stumbled on this small note that I had made to myself from a class I took two years ago. I saw these two words I had scribbled in the corner of the page - "Gentle January."
And it all flooded back.
It's a phrase from a life coach who talked about taking the pressure off of January. Instead of starting new plans on January 1st, she takes the whole month to get ready. Like she's training for a marathon that starts February 1st.
She doesn't try to execute anything new. No new diets, earlier alarms, nothing about her routine shifts except she makes time to reflect and consider what she wants for the year.
If what she wants requires change, she puts down a strategy on paper and then revises. She might try something just to see if she likes it (like adding a jog before lunch or staying up an extra hour after the kids go to bed) but there is no expectation to make it a daily routine yet.
Instead of being rushed by that ball dropping at midnight...she pauses.
She opts for a gentle January.
A month of prep and planning (without the added stress of the holidays) so that she's ready to begin her race in February.
And I suddenly realized I could push pause and have a gentle January too.
I need it. I want it. And if you need a gentle month to get ready for all the plans and dreams and goals you have for this year...this is me giving you permission to have a gentle January.
And btw - you're awesome π
I don't know about you, but January is one of my least favorite months. The holidays are so full of joy with things to reflect on and look forward to that after New Years, I experience a bit of a mood drop.
A new year marks a beginning, full of possibility. And as a business owner, it means prepping for the next few months, even the entire year. Plus there's also personal goals for less clutter, more exercise, planning homeschool for the kids. It's a lot. It's...exhausting and I'm still a bit tired from December.
So here we are, 7 days in to 2021...the country is in upheaval, the pandemic is still raging and all of my goals and resolutions have lost a bit of luster. My motivation is wobbly for sure.
And then I stumbled on this small note that I had made to myself from a class I took two years ago. I saw these two words I had scribbled in the corner of the page - "Gentle January."
And it all flooded back.
It's a phrase from a life coach who talked about taking the pressure off of January. Instead of starting new plans on January 1st, she takes the whole month to get ready. Like she's training for a marathon that starts February 1st.
She doesn't try to execute anything new. No new diets, earlier alarms, nothing about her routine shifts except she makes time to reflect and consider what she wants for the year.
If what she wants requires change, she puts down a strategy on paper and then revises. She might try something just to see if she likes it (like adding a jog before lunch or staying up an extra hour after the kids go to bed) but there is no expectation to make it a daily routine yet.
Instead of being rushed by that ball dropping at midnight...she pauses.
She opts for a gentle January.
A month of prep and planning (without the added stress of the holidays) so that she's ready to begin her race in February.
And I suddenly realized I could push pause and have a gentle January too.
I need it. I want it. And if you need a gentle month to get ready for all the plans and dreams and goals you have for this year...this is me giving you permission to have a gentle January.
And btw - you're awesome π
