If someone said, “let’s start the year strong!”, wouldn’t you give it a thumbs up? I know I would.

So I was surprised when a friend said, “I don’t want to start the year strong.”

She’d had a tough year with several deaths in the family, major surgery and financial pressures. Through it all, she’d had to be strong and “strong” now felt way too effortful. Instead, my friend plans to make a slow start to the year.

As one of my mentors says, “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”.

Whether you’ve had a challenging year or a great one as was the case with me, it’s still possible to feel exhausted.

So whatever kind of year you’ve had, give yourself permission not to make a strong start if it feels too effortful. And realize that not making a “strong” start doesn’t mean making a weak start or a feeble one.

Following my friend’s example, I’m going to make a calm, gentle and intentional start.

  • Calm means I don’t need to come out fighting like when the bell rings at the start of a boxing match.
  • Gentle means starting the year by giving myself grace to take breaks and rest instead of “powering through” using bursts of adrenalin.
  • Intentional means choosing what to say ‘yes’ to, who to spend time with and how to invest my energy and attention. No more doing things by default or just because I’m “supposed to”.

      How about you? How will you approach this year?

      No matter how you’ve started the year so far, today is a new day and you can choose how you want to approach the year from today onward.

      If you’re going to be intentional about your year too, then I’ve got something you’ll want to take part in: Career Mastery™ Challenge 2023.

      Starting on Monday, January 23rd, I’ll show you how to be more intentional in your career and gain clarity as you plan the next phase of your career journey.

      The Challenge is your opportunity to:

      • Spend time on self-reflection and what career success looks like for you, rather than chasing what “should” logically be next.
      • Make a strategic plan about your career so you can move forward towards your big aspirations.
      • Take the first step to put and keep yourself and your career at the top of the to-do list.

      If you haven’t joined the Challenge yet, save your free spot today.