Reframing 2020
At the beginning of 2020, I sat down with my notepad and pen in hand and started to write about my ambitions for the year ahead.
I had a few months earlier quit my 20-year career to take a break and to see what inspiration (and boredom) might throw my way. As it happened, I had a bumpy ride … I had a life-changing health scare and a very close family member, who I was helping to care for, was told she had weeks to live.
These events impacted me in ways I am still trying to comprehend. The harshness of life slapped me around the face. I was angry and sad. Having been one of the proudest advocates of the NHS, spending most of my career working within it, I was suddenly on the other side and I felt let down. (There is a whole other blog post in this paragraph alone, which I might write about when I feel it’s time)
I say all of this to explain my headspace as I entered 2020… of course, I wasn’t to know what was still to face us!
But, as it was, I had some difficult challenges to deal with and a lot of time on my hands that I wanted to spend focussed on the future, rather than worrying about the present. I’d been gifted a copy of Kristina Karlsson’s ‘Your dream life starts here’ and decided now was as good a time as any to start working through it.
There was a lot of big picture thinking – much of which I had done during my Hawaii epiphany trip – but now I had the space to start thinking about how I was going to bring those dreams into reality.
My three priority dreams that I decided to focus on in 2020 was:
Manage and improve my health and wellbeing … I knew tackling this would give me the greatest chance of achieving my other goals. By July 2020 I wanted to be more energised by integrating movement and mindfulness into my daily routine.
To develop and commence in the next steps of my career … finding something that sparked joy and excited me was an important factor for whatever I chose to do next. I set myself the challenge of deciding by September 2020 what that was going to be and to start taking action.
Spend quality time with family and friends … I felt I had neglected this over recent years with an unhealthy focus on work. The events of the previous year had shown me that time was precious, and I wanted to be present for those I cared for the most, as well as feeling connected to a community of like-minded people.
When covid struck and turned the world on its head, I, like most, felt like life had been put on hold. But then I reframed the situation and realised that I had been given no choice but to slow down and take that break that I had meant to do when I left my job (then) eight months earlier.
I also realised that I could still pursue my goals – albeit in a different way to that I had envisioned at the beginning of the year.
So, at the end of 2020, how did I do?
The gyms might have closed for large chunks of time, but thanks to zoom, YouTube IG and the Headspace app I was able to maintain a pretty good wellness regime. I wrote about some of the things that kept me going through lockdown here. It’s faltered a little bit through the latest lockdown (tier 4 anyone?!) and my eating has been a bit shades of beige one too many times. But I know what works for me and, through my own coaching, I’ve got tools in place to help me (once I’ve finished the last piece of Christmas cheesecake…)
Well, the mere fact you are reading this blog means that you know I launched my own business this year! I didn’t think working for myself would be the thing that sparked me joy and it does push me wildly out of my comfort zone at times (hello, talking to camera!) but launching sunday skies was 100% the best decision I’ve made. It’s given me the kind of flexibility that I would never have achieved if I had gone back to a corporate 9 to 5 job. In my first foray into the unknown, I guested on the ‘Inside the Hive’ podcast and chatted about the story behind the business.
So, figuratively speaking, lockdown was the great big kick in the gonads that we didn’t see coming. And it pretty much wiped out my social calendar (like everyone else). But again, once the HouseParty / Zoom quiz frenzy died down, it gave me the perfect chance to focus on those quality connections. The toxic influences faded away and in its place is a small group of people who have supported and stuck by me. We’ve caught up more than we did before and they’ve cheer-led from afar as I launched the new biz. I feel more connected to the yoga community through my regular practice and am building a lovely community with sunday skies. I have even started going on regular walks with some of my family, which is scoring major points for goal one as well!
Starting the year with sadness and despair, now that I can look back and reflect, I am proud of what I have achieved. It has shown me that even at the darkest of times there is an opportunity, and you make of it what you will. It has proven to me the power of setting a goal. I am thankful for all it has taught me.
What have been your reflections about 2020? How have you reframed your situation? What are you proud of? Drop me a line and let me know.