From Resolutions to Revelations

How to slow down, stop driving yourself forward and allow your next steps to be revealed.

What does New Year mean to you?

Is it a kind of Groundhog Day?

Or maybe a new beginning?

Perhaps it’s a time when you set goals, write a plan, or make some resolutions? (which the evidence shows will probably be broken by the end of March, if not by the end of the month!)

I’ve been wondering about the annual tradition of reviewing the year and setting new intentions or targets and whether it’s actually useful for me or my clients.

I’ve written previously about being more authentic in my working life, more in tune with nature’s rhythms and cycles. I’ve also written about my resistance to military-derived terminology, like ‘target’ and ‘strategy’, that is so endemic in our working lives. Even self-employed people can be susceptible to dozens of emails exhorting us to improve our business planning or, at the more ‘conscious’ end of business advice, to clarify our purpose and gifts. Here’s a flavour of the kinds of messages I’ve been bombarded with (another military term) these last couple of weeks:

Free business plan template!

The secret to creating new habits!

Your best year yet!