Got those post Labor Day weekend blues?
I know, I feel you. Summer is ending and we might not be quite ready to say goodbye. But you know what’s great about September?
No, not the arrival of pumpkin spice everything. Although, I do love me a good PSL.
What’s great about September is the renewed sense of energy and focus that comes with the change of seasons.
Summer's energy is lighthearted - all about getting outdoors and doing things that bring us pleasure. As a result, our focus isn't on achieving our goals or personal development because we're focused on having fun. This makes sense - it's hard to stay focused when all water cooler talk is about vacations and weekend plans at the beach.
While checking out and taking time off is important, summer can often leave us feeling exhausted and a bit out of whack when we've been away from our routines and goals for a while.
Fall's energy, on the other hand, is much more focused.
Now that summer is coming to a close, our focus shifts to getting back to our normal lives and routines. That "back-to-school" energy is in the air and gives us a sense of excitement and possibility. Even if we're no longer in school ourselves, we can harness that energy and use it to our advantage.
This time of year offers us an opportunity to slow down and get back to basics. An opportunity to reflect, reorganize, and start fresh.
It’s kind of like the New Year’s energy we get in January, except with way better weather. And additional benefit? We can use this energy to start making progress towards our New Year’s goals, even before we get to the new year.
#SeptemberIsTheNewJanuary:
While most of us think of January as a time for making resolutions, career shifts, promotions and new health routines, we often put off thinking about those topics until New Year's Eve.
Given the way society talks about our calendars, this is totally understandable. "New year, new you" and other slogans like that make January seem like the ideal time to start focusing on our goals.
But in thinking of January in this way, you're actually causing yourself to delay the timing of when you reaching those goals.
Why? Because before you even start working towards a goal, you need to do a bunch of planning work around that goal.
You need to determine things like what your goal actually is, your timeline for getting there, the actionable steps that you are going to take to make it happen, and what might get in the way of your goal and how to plan accordingly.
Since you can't just jump into action without doing the ground work first, by putting these things off until January, you're only delaying your timeline for getting into action. As a result, you're pushing your timeline of actually reaching your goal even further back.
However, if you put the work in to figure all of this out now, you can take your time and be deliberate about how you make a change or move forward.
No more rushing to throw some random resolutions on your list come January 1st because you feel like that's what you "should" be doing. Instead, you'll have done the leg work ahead of time so that, in January, you can focus on actions that will actually help you reach your goal.
For example, say you want a new job in early 2019. If you take the time now to determine why you want a new job, what type of position will feel fulfilling, and what roles and companies you want to apply to, then in January, all you have to do is start applying and interviewing.
I can hear your future self thanking you already!
Back-To-School Vibes:
The idea behind #SeptemberIsTheNewJanauary actually ties back to how we used to look at the calendar growing up.
Ever since elementary school, our lives revolved around the academic calendar. At that time, September was basically January for us - all about new beginnings. It wasn't until we entered the corporate world that our lives began to revolve around the annual calendar.
My suggestion: When it comes to goal setting, go back to looking at your calendar from that perspective.
Harness those "back-to-school" vibes that you can feel in the air and use them to start making major headway on your life and career goals.
Get clear on what you want to make happen in your life in 2019 and start working towards it now. Take this time to reset, center yourself, focus on that little inner voice inside you, and set some awesome goals for yourself.
Come January, you'll be well on your way to achieving them.
In fact, I believe in this way of looking at your calendar so much that I specifically designed my new virtual group coaching course to kick off in September for this reason. I wanted to go beyond talking about #SeptemberIsTheNewJanuary and give you an outlet to help you take action and harness that "back-to-school" energy yourself.
From WTF? To F Yeah! is all about reconnecting with the inner you, breaking through the blocks that are keeping you stuck, creating a vision of the life you want to be living, and then getting you into action. When the course wraps up in early November, you'll have an action plan and be working towards the 2019 goals you've created.
Feeling like you could use some help harnessing those "back-to-school" vibes and making the most of your fall? I'd love for you to join us! We start September 23rd! Check it out!
Be well,
Carolyn