How many of us have made the same New Year’s resolutions that we do every year?
Eat more healthily, join a gym, do more exercise, lose weight, change job, find a partner, start a family??!!??
These are all great resolutions and all start with the best intentions, but how many do we actually keep? And why do so many of us fail at the first hurdle?
New Year, New You?
New year is a great time to reflect and think of all you achieved in last 12 months. Maybe there were somethings that were a step to far, maybe you’ll achieve them this year, maybe you say that every year and every January you have the same chat with yourself…. I know I do!
It’s hard to say why things don’t go as you planned or hoped. Sometimes these things are out of your control, circumstances change and priorities are reorganised. Did your dreams rely on the input of another and they’ve let you down? Or something inside you stopped you from pursuing it?
It’s not always easy to understand why things haven’t panned out like you thought. Or to see where your next move might take you. Sometimes the thought of pursuing something is exciting but also scary and that fear can override any dream you have. What if you tried following your dream before and got caught on the wrong path, and now you’re so far down it you can’t remember the way back?
Giving Up?!
I don’t think any one of us can say that we’ve never given up on something, no matter how big or small it may be. It was obviously important enough for you to want it in the first place.
It’s hard to admit defeat, to turn your back on something, to give up and walk away, but all too often no matter how hard that is, it’s still easier than carrying chasing it. Living with the regret though can feel like a huge weight, a nagging reminder of what could have been, where it might have taken you…
I know for myself this is true, the lyrics “shoulda, woulda, coulda are the last words of a fool” often spring to mind. Only I can change those lyrics, not necessarily straight away and not even all on my own. But it has to be me that initiate’s it. I need to face what stopped me in the first place and tackle it!
Now I realise this is so much easier said than done. If it was easy, I wouldn’t be writing this in my office. I’d be relaxing on a hot beach with a cocktail in hand, a tiny waist and large bank balance! As is I’m a realist!! I know that achieving dreams takes hard work and that unfortunately, not every dream is 100% achievable. But by breaking it down into bitesize goals, you can achieve more than you think and maybe along the way you’ll find you didn’t need the beach or huge bank balance to make you feel fulfilled….
Sometimes the things that stop us aren’t so scary when looked at another way, or with someone else. They might still be scary and difficult and overwhelming, but maybe with a new perspective or set of skills, they will seem less and less so until they’re a distant memory and the path we call life!
Moving Forward…
No-one can offer you a quick fix or do it for you, but we can offer help and support and guidance and the opportunity to learn new skills and techniques.
We offer a range of FREE compact courses covering a wide variety of topics, from chair yoga, to herbal studies and even mindfulness and assertiveness. These courses can help you develop your skills or teach you new ones, open your mind to new possibilities and enhance areas of your personality you’ve dismissed in the past.
We also offer our A Step In The Right Direction programme (STEPS). A FREE 1-2-1 mentoring and coaching programme run by Denise. You will meet regularly with Denise who will help you set goals, work out the issues that have stopped you achieving them in the past, sign post you to helpful organisations and help you work towards that far off dream.
IF you would like to find out more about our courses or our STEPS programme, please get in touch. If you want to make 2018 your year, but need some help to do it, maybe we can provide that help.
It’s never too late to achieve your dreams…
