Veganuary, Dry January – I’m sure you have heard so many initiatives flying about…some you may have adopted, others laughed at. I think my favourite is Fat January – those rebelling against the healthy January concept but still conforming to the trend of 30 days of behaviour change.

I’m a hypocrite. At the end of 2017 I blogged about being burnt out and that in 2018 I would make a change. After a fantastic year in 2018 I ended up burnt out and de-motivated at the end. A place where I couldn’t even set myself the goals I wanted to achieve by the end of 2019 – unheard of for me.

And that’s simply where the problems lie. We keep working to short term goals that exhaust us, punish us and at the end of that period of time leave us right back where we started – what’s the next goal?

I needed to make a change and after reading numerous blinks (check out Blinklist if you want to read lots about different topics but don’t have the time / don’t want to give time to chunky books) on mindfulness, yoga, resilience, happiness – and the conclusion I have made is that we are doing it all wrong.

We actually need to find out what sparks joy in our life. Individually we are such an insignificant piece in the universe yet we put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect, to be happy, to succeed…and actually, for who? Ourselves? Hell no! Society!

What sparks joy, what makes us feel secure and content is really what we need to be focussed on because we have a long life to live so lets try and enjoy the moments rather than the what ifs. Yes of course getting out of your comfort zone is good but you do need a balance – if you keep going for gold you will struggle to enjoy the moments along the way.

Yes, it is easy for me to say but as an Entrepreneur it’s also easy for you to ignore. You have so much pressure on your shoulders, your life is riding on getting it right, your staff are banking on you paying them on time and maybe your investors want to see results quicker. You are also probably paying yourself minimum to get by. But your wellbeing is so important because if you get ill it may all be over – your staff won’t get paid, your investors will not get results and you, well you will probably need to set yourself new goals.

So, what can you do to get those little moments of joy, and of course wellbeing, back in the diary?

1. Get your life in order and de-clutter. Watch the Marie Kondo documentary on Netflix and implement a category – trust me, it’s deeply satisfying!

2. Get regular exercise in the diary – Adrienne on YouTube is free and can be done before you start your day with practices that will fit into any routine. Not to get physically fit per se but to get mind fit. Or why not try Auro – an app to help you workout whereever you are!

3. Start meditating. Headspace has free sessions and there’s always discount codes available if you want to subscribe.

4. Get out of the office or your working space even for 15/30 minutes – take a walk, clear your mind ready for the afternoon.

5. Most importantly be kind to yourself.

Happy life!