Post-holiday slump? Or something more?
Based on responses that I got from so many of you last week, it seems that my message about easing into 2022 definitely hit home.
You shared your relief in knowing that it's both normal and permissible if you happen to be feeling less than rah-rah about the start of the new year and that my message was exactly what you needed to hear.
I want you to know that your feelings are always okay, no matter what they are, or how much they might seem at odds with the rest of the world. (Though I assure you, there are always other people out there who get it.)
I'm so grateful if my emails and posts help you feel seen and understood. But remember: you don't need me — or anyone else for that matter — to tell you that what you're going through is valid.
It's ALL welcome if you allow it to be, as hard as life sometimes is.
So if you're feeling low or blah this week, your body, mind, and soul might just be in need of an easing in. For that matter, you may need the opportunity to process life's ongoing uncertainties and craziness (not to mention all of the covid-Christmases so many of you had).
But a client session this week reminded me that there could be something else underfoot, if you're feeling a lot of resistance to this year ahead.
Allow me to rewind 6 years or so, to the spring of 2016.
At the time, I was working in advertising sales in a job I liked but didn't love and running my jewellery business alongside it.
Chris and I had just returned from a trip to Bali, and what a gorgeous trip it was. Have you ever had a holiday you loved so much that you cried when it was over? This was that kind of experience.
Anyways, I'm back in Vancouver and about two days into work, and all I can think is, "This cannot be my life."
Not because my circumstances were anything particularly awful. But because I was struck by the contrast between how I wanted life to look and feel, and how it was.
I realized I was back at a job that felt like biding my time, waiting for the day I would finally quit and go in on my business full-time.
That I was on the verge of becoming the person who's in a perpetual counting down to their next vacation.
That existing at a 7 out of 10 might be good enough for some people, but that it was no longer cutting it for me.
The realization struck me hard: "I can't do this anymore!"
And after months and years of telling myself I would strike out on my own, quit my job and go full-time with Keltie Leanne Designs — I finally did.
When we're in a transition between what was, and what will be, there's an opportunity to observe a powerful contrast.
We see how good life can be and feel. And experience acutely the ways in which our day-to-day life doesn't fulfill us.
This isn't the same as wishing every day consisted of delicious Balinese massages and a perpetual escape from laundry (though both sound divine). Rather, the return to day-to-day life shows us the things that are no longer working.
You realize...
◇ You're tired of putting yourself and your family after everything else.
◇ That 80% of your time is spent doing things you don’t want to be doing — rather than the stuff you do.
◇ You've been racing through life, constantly stuck in "I just need to get through this next section" thinking.
◇ The things you've been sacrificing are no longer worth it. For that matter, maybe they never were.
◇ You want so much more for yourself and refuse to accept that this is as good as it gets.
The fact is, business and life may be working — but it definitely isn't working for you.
These feelings go beyond a post-holiday slump.
In this case, the reason your post-vacation life feels like a rude awakening is because you had secretly hoped that "real life" would have undergone a miraculous change during your absence, but once you get back to business — it's just more of the same.
If this pre- and post-holiday contrast has you feeling deflated, overwhelmed, and demotivated:
It doesn't need to be this way.
A future where your business works for you IS possible, so you can...
◇ stop working early and be on the slopes for an evening ski
◇ make time for painting again — just like you used to do in college
◇ hit the sofa for a midday cuddle with your work-from-home partner
... all without guilt, overwhelm, or sacrifice.
If you're ready for your life in 2022 to be one you want to embrace more deeply — rather than one you want to escape from — allow this to be your invitation:
My private 1-on-1 coaching experience can help you create a 2022 filled with renewed energy and vision, easefulness, and joy.
Book a free, no-pressure call to discuss how I can support you in creating an everyday existence as delicious as the holidays.
*Balinese massage optional.