And … deep breath. Yep, you did it. Christmas is done and dusted for another year. The desperate hunt for sticky tape, wondering where you put the nativity set (and if you still actually like it or it’s part of a tradition you’ve outgrown) and racing back to the supermarket for more cream is finished. Your credit rating might also be too, but hey, Christmas comes but once a year.
My Boxing Day has long been pretty regimented. The tree – so delightful when you first drag it in from the Scouts’ sale or unbox it and put it together, so tedious once Christmas is over – is stripped of decorations. They’re tucked away for next year.
The presents which weren’t quite me go into my regift box. I have a sliver of pudding for lunch, maybe check in with the cricket Test, then do some serious reflecting.
Time to reflect
Actually, I do serious reflecting on the reflecting I’ve already done in the lead up to Christmas.
(Quick aside: Why do we use that day as such a line in the sand to get things done? Have the new couch delivered, have the bathroom painted … it’s not like the world ends on December 25 and never opens again, but it’s so ingrained in us to use it as a finish line for work and home projects. Why?)
Okay, back with you. Before Christmas I do a deep dive into what worked for me the past year, what didn’t, and what I want to change, ditch, add. I think hard about relationships that served me and those that held me back or made me downright miserable. I check in with the things that made me anxious and those that gave me joy. I look at figures, I inspect my feelings from all angles, and I come up with conclusions about how to move forward.
So, the period between Christmas and New Year is usually lovely for me. Hope it is for you too. The mad rushing around and planning is done on all fronts and there’s a buffer to polish up your plans, before forgetting about them for a couple of weeks while you hit the beach or the road.
Putting play back into business
This year’s reflecting was particularly fruitful and exciting in my office. 2023 is going to see me add a new stream and direction to the core businesses which have earned me visibility, success and reputation for a long time. Partnerships and marketing to mothers will always be part of what I do. But from now on, they’re going to have share Mum’s time with a new baby – promoting play.
How many times were you told as a kid to ‘grow up’? To ‘start acting your age and not your shoe size’? It felt like a race to shrug off the freedom and fun of childhood and take on adult responsibilities – which often turned out to be less glamorous than we hoped. Anyone had to buy school shoes and uniforms lately? Sheesh.
What I’ve realised over the last chaotic year when my marriage ended and a family member suicided is simple: that the way to be happy as a grown up isn’t to add more grown up stuff like cars and houses and fancy holidays to our lives, but to tap back into a time when we were happiest. For most, that’s childhood.
So, my business shift on one hand is complex – convincing adults that the way forward to success and happiness is a backward step – and on the other, it’s child’s play. Literally.
In 2023 I’ll launch two new programs to help people have more fun and success in their life and biz. I’ll be adding two new motivational topics on play and transformation to my signature marketing and business topics. Away from work, I’ll be having as much fun as I can when I can: seeing bands with my kids, reading guilty pleasure books about Nantucket women with great dresses and a way with salads, exercising in new incidental ways and staying truly connected to friends.
I know every adventure I have will inform and improve my energy and creativity and make me better at biz. Especially the private coaching where I feel my ideas and experience make a real difference.
My invitation is that while you’re thinking about whether to eat the second last mince pie (is that even a question?) before a wee nap, take ten minutes to reflect on the year you’ve had. What went well. What you want to change in your biz and life going into ’23. Whether you need some guidance, support and accountability to help you get there. Whether you need a wingwoman as a late Secret Santa gift to yourself.
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Now read this:
Are you crawling to the end of 2022? How to finish the year joy-filled