The title of this blog post might sound a little counter intuitive. You’re only one month into the year. Surely, you don’t need to check in on yourself or anything else at this point. Hear me out though because I have five reasons why you might want to give your well-being and your business a once-over as you come to the end of January.
Have you recovered from Christmas?
I know, I know, the joyous festive holiday should be a break from the slog and pressures of working life. There’s presents to be opened, people to celebrate with, and time away from the usual routine.
There’s also:
- preparing and planning for the perfect Christmas Day (and not necessarily your idea of perfect)
- ticking friends, family, and colleagues off your gift shopping list (including the dog)
- making sure you’ve got everything done at work in time for the holiday
- over-eating and probably having a few too many alcoholic drinkies
- the politics of Christmas parties
- entertaining family members who you don’t see for much of the year (maybe for good reason)
And that’s just in December. Come January, you may be skint after the present buying and entertaining, and exhausted after running around to get everything ready for all those festivities, but there’s work, school-runs, and the general routine to get back to.
Do you need a break or a little self-care? It can be as simple as blocking off a day in your diary to curl up on the sofa with no customer or family demands. If you’ve got the cash, you might want to take yourself away somewhere relaxing. How about putting those Christmas gifts to good use and having a soak in something that smells wonderful? The key phrase here is ‘self-care’. Take a little time to look after yourself.
Are you still on track with your new year resolutions?
Every year, most people will make at least one new year resolution. The majority of these resolutions will be to improve their health, whether that’s losing weight, eating better, or getting more exercise. It’s estimated that by the summer, around half of those resolutions will still be in place.
What about you? Did you make any new year resolutions? Are you still on track when the end of January rolls around?
There’s nothing wrong with making new year resolutions; striving to improve yourself is rarely a mistake. But when that new year resolution is:
- unrealistic
- something you think you should do, rather than actually want to do
- vague and unplanned
it will often be abandoned before Easter eggs hit the supermarket shelves. What’s worse is that you can feel like a failure for not persevering.
If you’ve set new year resolutions, now is a great time to look at your progress. If all’s well, brilliant, well done. If you’re struggling though, take the time to work out why. And don’t beat yourself up if you are struggling. You can always begin again or choose a resolution that’s more manageable and more you.
Is your routine still working?
Did you carry on the same routine from last year? Or did you create a completely new routine? How’s it working out?
After one month of working at that routine – new or old – is it still the right way for you to run your life and/or business? Does it need a minor tweak or a complete overhaul?
If you’re struggling with a new routine, it might simply be a case of getting used to this new way of doing things.
If an old, established routine is causing you problems, what do you need to change to make it work?
What’s changed in the world?
Let’s be honest, the Christmas holiday has a habit of taking over our collective consciousness. Changes that happen out in the big, wide world can often be lost in the festive onslaught. That doesn’t mean that real-life ‘stuff’ doesn’t happen.
It might be a legal change that affects your business, a shift in spending habits, or a global event that brings everything into perspective.
By the time the end of January rolls around, it’s generally clear what those changes are. Now’s the time to consider how they will affect your life and what you need to do in response.
January can be a grey (or blue) month
January, by its nature, can be a bleak, grey, damp month. A lot of people will have overspent at Christmas and be desperate for payday. Others will have over-indulged on festive goodies and be a few pounds heavier than they prefer. The tinsel and glitter are back in the attic and the Christmas sweater has returned to its drawer until next December. After the fun of the holiday, it’s time to return to work and the mundane.
Now’s the time to check whether you’re okay. Are your blue moods simply down to January’s post-festive anti-climax or is there a deeper issue? After a month of buying for and entertaining others, take the opportunity to think about yourself. It isn’t selfish; in fact it’s an absolute must. So how are you? What do you need?
*
January is often seen as a time to write-off and forget. We zip through it, head down, shoulders hunched, and eyes on the next payday. But the final days of the month can be a wonderful time to find a fresh perspective on our personal and business progress.
