So much for a New Year, New Beginning and a New Laptop!
The first half of this month has hardly been cheerful and plain sailing at the Rutter household.
2nd of January. First day back in the office. Fingertips on the keyboard, my eyes examining my calendar for the day ahead. First up was monthly planning and creating my vision for the year ahead. Then, a virtual chat with a new LinkedIn connection. In the afternoon, I was to write a blog on the topic of creating your vision for the year ahead.
But there was me staring at my schedule with a seriously bunged up nose, struggling to breathe and with an annoying headache. I could do with hiding from the world for a bit longer.
I don’t know about you but when I’m feeling under the weather I’m far more likely to want to have a duvet day, curl up on the sofa with a book or even watch something mindless. So, the thought of making grand plans and writing a motivational blog article as I sneeze out loudly didn’t seem all that inspiring to me.
Internally I was split… because I was feeling reasonably well and in a good enough state to work. (I advocate taking time off to recover more quickly when ill. I’d been off work for over a week on holiday, so it’s not like I’d been working while having a mild cold.) But still, my head was somewhat fuzzy because of my blocked nose and I couldn’t really think straight.
Time was ticking – tick, tock, tick, tock – and I had a lot of work to get on with
Truth be told, I had started writing the article you’re reading right now back then but I struggled to get it polished enough to hit the ‘Publish’ button. You see, I was feeling off that first week probably because of my cold… but I suspect there was also something else niggling me and getting in the way of making my grand plans for 2019.
By the 9th January, with the help of a seawater-based decongestion relief, taking the weekend off and having a good laugh with friends, I was feeling fab and ready to go. You see, it’s good to listen to your body! 🙂
And that’s when the technological nightmare struck! First, I couldn’t send emails from my business email address. In the attempt of solving this issue, a not-so-helpful Microsoft technician caused such damage to my computer that I couldn’t even log on the internet. Because that’s helpful when you have an online business?! 🙁
Eventually, I had to leave fixing my computer for another time and borrow my husband’s computer to present on my first webinar of the year. Amanda Jonson had invited me to speak in front of her wonderful VA community. And then the third major issue struck – Zoom had a major outage just when we were due to have the webinar.
I will spare you the rest of the list. The IT problems are still ongoing and have continued to pile up. Suffice to say, I’ve spent over 15 solid hours dealing with all of this.
It was frustrating and tiring and the last thing I needed when I have so much to do. Yet, two unfortunate events put things into perspective. Two family friends passed away in unforeseen and very sad circumstances last week leaving their young families behind.
Coincidentally, this Monday I received an email from Calm:
Take a deep breath.
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
– Carl Bard
Wise words indeed. And this is my message to you, too.
Even amid all the technical palaver, there were some wonderful things that happened – well, I made them happen.
As I eluded to earlier, the year hasn’t been completely doom and gloom and that’s because I’m still creating time for what matters to me most, even at times when setbacks come up and derail me. Here are a few of my highlights:
- Lacing up my trainers and going out for my three weekly runs as part of my half-marathon training.
- Spending quality time with my family-in-law. It was so fascinating to watch my little adorable nephew craw around the house with lightning speed. No more cuddles for aunty Mira.
- Taking parkrun tourism to another level not only exploring other parts of London but I’ve now visited Hadleigh Castle (in Essex) – a place I’ve wanted to see for some time. And what made it extra special was celebrating another major milestone – my 100th parkrun! 💃🏻
- Caught up with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while.
No matter how this year has started for you. You can still take one day at a time and steer the ship into the direction that you want your life to go.
So if you’d like to create time for what’s important to you in 2019 then, come and join me for my first webinar today ‘Finding Success in 2019: How to plan for a fulfilling year in business & life’.
Let’s cross fingers all goes well and IT fairies are working their magic so that I can show you:
- How to identify the No 1 obstacle that’s keeping you spinning your wheels
- How to create a vision for a successful and fulfilling year in business and personal life backed up by a plan that you can actually follow through
- The essential ingredients for setting and accomplishing goals and outcomes in an empowering and exciting way
- My proven eight-step strategy for leading an enriched, fulfilling and healthier lifestyle.
This webinar is for you if you want to create success on your terms by living a life you love while doing work you love without burning out, register below.
Yes, I want to have more energy. Sign me up!
And if you can’t attend
See you later!
P.S. If you’ve been following me for a while you’d know I’m not the New Year’s resolution type.
While setting New Year’s resolutions works well for some people, overall, it seems like far many people end up more disappointed with themselves for not following through or not bothering at all.
You may want to check out my previous article on the topic https://ruttercoaching.com/how-to-plan-for-an-exciting-and-fulfilling-year-ahead/
Image Credit: Mohamed_Hasan – Pixabay
