It may be February 1st, and I may have started this randomly the night before, but afehyia pa from me and my blog. I’m taking a page out of my mum’s books as she’s one of the people who will say Happy New Year to you just until Easter. I always used to pester her about it naturally. She’d always assert that as long as she’s not spoken to the person that year, it’s never too late to use the expression.
Anyway, restarting this in February was always the plan. The general consensus has always been that the moment the dates move to a new year, you get your very own theme music, signifying a rebirth of a new you. It’s a new dawn, and it’s a new day. It’s a blank page and a blank space to start over and make things much better than the year before (a cookie for you if you can recognise the songs I was thinking of while writing this part). And well, this time, I didn’t want to yield to that pressure. I also didn’t want to sit around and let time pass me.
So, what have I been up to? Resting, planning, strategising, building momentum and the like. It may or may not be related to my name, but I really love using nature for inspiration. Walk with me here and imagine a vast plot of land. That can be the entire year or whatever period or goal you have set before you. Before you start planting, you need to make sure it’s ready for that, and one way to do that is through tilling the land. This involves breaking up the hard surface, removing weeds and rocks, and adding nutrients and organic matter. Tilling the land aerates the soil and makes it easier for seeds to germinate, roots to grow, etc.
Similarly, I believe proper mental preparation is a key strategy for achieving any goal this year. It involves acknowledging and breaking up our old habits, removing distractions and obstacles, and boosting motivation and inspiration. The year may have changed, but you haven’t changed, so that change has to be an intentional act. I’m happy to say I haven’t swerved too far from my New Year resolutions because of this.
I’ve spent the last few weeks taking my time to have a proper action plan for the year. I used the YearCompass as my primary tool, and it was a double-edged sword. I used it to close out last year while strategising for this year. For the first time in a while, I didn’t feel like I was setting unattainable goals. It gave me full coverage in all the areas I wanted to be intentional about growth and full flexibility in how I wanted to approach those goals.
In addition, I read the 12 Week Year which basically helped theorise an idea I had last year before I even heard of the book. In my current role, month ends and quarter ends are significant. So, I thought if I’m working towards quarterly deliverables at work, I might as well try to incorporate them into my personal life for consistency. So, finding the book was a confirmation of that. I don’t adhere strictly to the framework, but it was a useful read.
So, January has ended, and have I achieved everything I set out to do? No, because I overdid it and had a lot of unexpected situational changes. In some areas of my life, I smashed my goals and in other areas, not so much. But that’s okay because I’m still learning how balance looks and works for me. I’m coming from a place where it’s either go big or go home, so I’m trying, okay?
It does make me happy that I’ve become more aware of this and give myself more grace to enjoy the process. I’m aiming to keep this momentum for the rest of the year, where I keep going no matter what. Here’s to intentional habits, growth and a flourishing 2024. Happy New Year once again.
Till the next brain dump, Lily.