Making it Stick
I hope 2019 was a turning point in my life. I want to remember it as a sliding door moment, where I made a change and made it stick. A conscious change I was proud of making.
I often say, I am here to help you through life’s inevitable uncertainties. Uncertainties was the understatement of 2019. It was a year filled with literal tragedy for a few of our clients; the loss of partners and life shortening illnesses, a bastard of a year for those few.
I saw their emotion. The shared thoughts. I had a glimpse of what can happen. What it could look like. What is important to these people. The effect of a situation.
It was a very confronting year for me. I wanted something out of it. What could I take from that year? What could I learn? Human nature is affected in intensely emotional periods: it can change our fundamental outlook on life and way of thinking. However, these changes are often ephemeral. Relatively quickly an event becomes a memory and nothing else in life changes - a sort of hedonic effect.
So, I channelled a few things. Stereotypical I know but it felt right at the time. It still feels right for me now. The core of my focus is making a conscious effort to keep living. By that I mean - Doing more of what I like and Getting the elusive balance better. A few of my conscious written down and ‘happening’ goals:-
The Daily Status Quo
I get a lot of daily time with my kids already – keep that.
Fridays to be mostly mine
They’ve been kind of partly mine (the idea was that they would be mine) - it was the occasional one here and there. But now half of them are mine – not negotiable. Half the day every Friday, currently consisting of:
Kids swim lessons
Gym
Guitar
Life
Doing Things
Physically booking in a month away. This is the biggest period I’ve had away from work since becoming an Adviser. We will be travelling around Tasmania for the month of December.
Regular little getaways and adventures. The kids love them. Tanya and I love them.
4. Practising gratitude and mindfulness.
5. Less things.
It’s not a complete overhaul. Life was similar prior to this, but now there is a more deliberate intent and commitment to these things.
Overwhelmingly though, it feels like I am consciously choosing the life I want to live, rather than to have it unfold with me as a passive passenger….. I am determined to take the lessons I learnt and keep them - make them stick.
Stef