Coaching Club: Release 2021 and open for the gifts of 2022
At C&C, we don’t start each year with a ‘new year, new me,’ attitude. Why? Because, when we do, whether it’s on a personal or company-level, we set ourselves up for failure, or feeling like we’ve failed before we even get to March. We believe in setting intentions and giving ourselves a purpose, not a long list of goals.
If there’s anything that the last two years has shown me, it’s the importance of our connections and that we can get through life’s continuous challenges and come out the other side.
What did you learn from 2021?
To release and truly let go of 2021, we need to reflect on the year just gone and recognise the important aspects of what we’ve experienced. No matter what happened to you over the past year, there will have been some really important aspects to learn from and appreciate. It’s by doing this exercise, you can truly reflect on what the past year has taught you and positively move forward for the year to come.
To do this, I use a specific set of questions:
What’s the one thing that you did that you’re proud of?
What did you learn about yourself?
What are you capable of now that you weren’t at the start of 2021?
What one mistake did you make and what did you learn?
What’s the one limiting story you’re truly ready to let go of?
If you find answering one question difficult, that’s ok, move onto the next and come back to it. Whatever answers you get from the questions, don’t suppress it, let it out, whether it’s joy, sadness or frustration. You may find that there are some examples that cause you to feel sad and that’s ok. It’s an emotion that you need to experience in order to move past it.
Answer these questions however they feel true for you, be open and honest with yourself. If there are positive examples, celebrate them, if there are negative experiences, write them down, they are still powerful moments. If you found that there were moments where you stood in your own way, ask yourself what happened or what caused you to do that? Take this opportunity to look at this moment and learn from it, not run away.
What do you want from 2022?
This next exercise isn’t about what you think might happen, but what your gut tells you will be, or already is, in motion for 2022.
This exercise is often really challenging for people, because daring to dream can feel like a scary thing to do. If that’s you, let go of that feeling, be courageous and think ahead about what you want. Don’t stand in your own way. This isn’t about ‘what is’, this is about what ‘will be’.
What will matter most to you this year?
What would you like to build, create, or nurture in your life in 2022?
How do you feel when you are your happiest self in 2022?
What makes you proud in 2022?
What are you grateful for in 2022?
What dream will come true for you in 2022?
Be brave, dream about what you want and make it so! What will you open the door for this year, and what will you leave behind in 2021?
Word of the Year
This final exercise is to help cement everything you learnt and recognised from the questions above. Your ‘Word of the Year’ is to remind you where you want to be and to make good decisions, to set yourself an intention and to stick with it for 12 months, not 12 days.
To come up with your ‘Word of the Year’, ask yourself how you want to feel in 2022. It may be difficult at first, but try doing the following:
Visualise what you want your day to look like.
Brainstorm a list of words, go for as many as possible!
From all the words you’ve written, start removing them one by one until you have three left. These should be three words that you are the most drawn to.
Are these words things that you are interested in or committed to?
Choose the one word (yes, just one) that you are 100% committed to.
Here are some words to help you get started:
Abide
Believe
Becoming
Nurture
Trust
Evaluate
Discipline
Unafraid
Worthy
Now, from a mindset of what’s possible, not a position of judgement, start thinking of four or five new ways in which you can incorporate this into your life. Be bold, be strong and be assured that these are ways you can commit to and that are going to benefit and nurture you, not hold you back.
Once you have your word, write it EVERYWHERE! Leave it on sticky notes, in your diary, in your journal, on your mirror, really go for it. You want this word to be embedded in everything you do and to do this, we need constant reminders. Don’t be shy, put your word everywhere.
Community
Creating your own intention that’s personal to you is vital to help you progress both at work and in your personal life. But, having a community of people around you that are committed to their own growth, and who are supportive and understanding, is also an integral part of our development journey. That’s what I’ve built with the Coaching Club. We are a group of women from across the world who come together each week to learn, grow and support each other in all our different endeavours to become the very best of who we are. If you’re looking for a nurturing and supportive environment and community of people, sign up online and join us each Tuesday evening. As a welcome from me to you, you’ll get 1 month free plus a whole host of extra training materials to help you on your journey.
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