Happy New Year (almost)! I hope your holiday season has been wonderful – filled with love and joy and hopefully lots of well deserved lazy relaxation.
I am wishing for you a 2015 where you dream big and reach goals you’ve set for yourself. What do you want from 2015? Do you want a repeat of this year? Or do you want something totally different?
I don’t have a ton to say today. I’m mostly sending good wishes to you as I contemplate what I want for the coming year. I hope you are thinking about what you want the next 12 months to look/feel like too.
What I want for the coming year has a lot to do with how I’ve spent my time this year. I’ve been incredibly productive and I’m very excited about all that I’ve accomplished in my first year of business. (Thank you for coming along for the ride and for supporting me!) But despite all that I’ve been able to do, all that I’ve learned and how far I’ve come this year, I find that for me, 2014 was plagued by too many “shoulds” and “have tos”. This is a part of my personality that I have always struggled with and it really reared its ugly head the last several weeks. As the holidays came closer, I found myself setting loftier goals to end the year – knowing how great it would feel if I accomplished all of it before December 31st. Well somewhere around mid-December I felt the pressure mounting and said screw it! I realized it was more important for me to enjoy the season, spend time with people I love and relax than it was to accomplish x,y and z. I was setting goals with my head, not my heart. Goals set with our heads are important (they keep the bills paid) but goals set by our hearts are equally and sometimes more so (they keep us happy and prevent burnout).
For 2015, I want more of the same success and momentum that I’ve had during 2014 but I’m going to work on giving less attention to the “shoulds” or “have tos” and more attention to what I want in my heart. A coaching practice is a heart-centered business and I’m a heart-centered person. Operating in this way will ensure 2015 is a calmer year for me – even as my business grows.
As usual, when trying to change a habit, I start by asking myself some questions. Is that goal coming from a deep desire? Am I excited about it? Will the return be worth the effort? Or is that goal coming from an expectation I’m putting on myself? Does it have to be done now or can it wait a little bit? The answers to these (and others) can help clarify my motivations.
So that’s where my head is as we wrap up 2014: assessing, revising and revisioning. How was this year for you? What do you want from 2015? What do you want to feel like one year from today? How do you plan to get there? Make it happen!
Andrea Quigley Maynard 