Spring Cleaning

Fun fact: Spring is my favourite season!

It is often aligned to new beginnings; flowers come into bloom, we see more baby animals than most other seasons, and people go through the ritual of a spring clean.

Whilst this may have you thinking 'out with the old, in with the new', I like to think of it as a realignment. Where are we now? Have we achieved what we set out to achieve? Have our goals and visions changed?

Don't get me wrong, while I will take this time to declutter my home, I will be taking time to declutter my mind, my office and my space. Doing this allows for clarity, and clarity provides direction. Without it, our heads are literally stuck in the clouds trying to see where our feet are landing with each step we take.

My top tips for you heading into Spring 18:

1. Revisit your plans and goals for this year

Yes, the year gets away from us all. Just take some time to check back in. Are the goals you set at the beginning of the year still relevant to where you are now? If not, don't be scared to change them. By embracing change, you are moving forward.

2. Identify any unrealistic deadlines

Don't need to change your goals, just the time you have set to achieve the full picture? Perhaps you have set some big hairy audacious goals (BHAGs) that you thought you were ready for, but haven't quite reached the time for execution yet - this is ok. Check in with all of your upcoming deadlines, space them out so you don't go too grey, re-evaluate the necessity for them and why you need them where they are. People either do one of two things:

Set deadlines with not enough time to achieve goals
Set deadlines with too much time to achieve goals

Know where you are, and set your deadlines to your habits and work load.

3. Realistically set time frames based on your year's experience

So you know what beat you are walking to by now, understand the pace and have tried challenging it a few times. Use this experience to determine how you set any future deadlines, timeline out projects or plan for a bigger workload. Learning from your journey is the best way to understand how to get to where you are headed.

4. Acknowledge your success

I hope you have taken time to reflect and celebrate your wins so far...nine months into the year, you deserve it. If you aren't into the rhythm of celebrating your wins, make me a promise and jot down your success for the week every Friday afternoon. Make this a part of your wind down for the week, reflection and celebration are key to ensuring your happiness at work!

5. Take time to see your end goals

By doing the above, you will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope you allow excitement to take over the anxiety by this point. Your hard work has been paying off, enjoy the home stretch!

Spring is your moment of opportunity, see it, take time to smell fresh flowers and go for it!