How to realign your focus in the new year
I have holiday brain. You know, that mental state coming off of a few weeks of winding down, holidays, shifting gears or whatever life comes at ya in the waning weeks of December. I haven’t written a PappyClub Journal entry since mid November 2021, and I gotta tell ya, I’m sluggish to get back to it. But here’s the thing. I’m committed to writing to you and sharing whatever I’m led to share in the hopes that you’ll be inspired, lifted and relieved facing whatever you are facing. It feels good to be writing to you again.
A few days ago I got an email from a college friend, Patty, in response to an email I’d sent her thanking her for always remembering me at Christmas with a thoughtful card. She replied:
“Aw, thank you so much for your kind response! I keep track of you and your business and success and I am always amazed at your positivity and professionalism! Keep up the great work!
I hope 2022 will be a great year for you! Stay well, safe and happy!”
People who know me will agree that I gravitate to positivity, appreciation and what’s good in the world and in each of our lives, and boy, do we need that these days. Focusing on the good, the positive, the desired and the amazing lives we all get to live has always been a personality trait of mine. Frankly, it’s what makes me happy.
As you are saying good bye to your “holiday brain,” and realigning your focus to what’s ahead in 2022 for your life, what are some of the thoughts you’re having? Are you engaging in a new set of goals for yourself or your business? Are you recommitting to projects or efforts you dreamed of in 2021 but never got off the ground? Are you considering a new level of engagement with your business that will increase your income? What is your intention for 2022 as we cruise into the second week of the new year?
Here’s the kicker question: are you approaching these new ideas, goals or efforts with the same thinking you had in 2021? If so, you will likely achieve the same results you did in 2021.
Maybe a different way of looking at how you want to show up in 2022 is starting with your intention for why you’re taking on new goals, projects or efforts. What is really behind your action plan?
It’s easy to get into “goal setting mode” in the new year. I totally get it. Often we’re stating an outcome we want such as getting more clients, losing weight, getting in better shape, getting more life-work balance, etc. Then, we jump right into the how of getting that outcome. Make sense, right? But what is the real outcome of why we’re doing these things? Sure, the goals and actions are the tools of how we get there. If we consistently execute, we will see results. If we don’t execute, we won’t. That part is simple.
What I’m inviting you to consider, however, is the intention behind these goals. Not necessarily the outcome, but the intention behind it. If the intention is to lose weight, what do you really want by losing weight? To fit into those pants you love that got a bit tight last year? If the goal is to get more clients, what do you really want by getting more clients? More business, revenue and workload? If the intention is to clean out that guest bedroom that’s become a dumping space for “I’ll get to it later” projects and junk, what do you really want by cleaning it out? A room for guests where they don’t have to climb over a bunch of stuff?
My challenge to you is to get to the real intention behind your goals or efforts for 2022. I bet that when you do, you’ll realize that your intention for every single one is that you will feel better.
Yup. It’s that simple. You do these things to feel better. Find relief. Feel in control of your destiny and outcomes.
Here’s the gold: If you realign your focus to be on feeling better, no matter what you do or take action around, you’ll feel better. It’s the ultimate desired outcome, right? Focusing on feeling better and happiness on your terms is the real intention. How you get there is the fun of it.
I’ll give you an example of how I did this last year.
In April 2021, I started painting again. I’m about halfway through my third oil painting now, a 24x24 aerial view of a black sand beach:
Here are the first two paintings, just before I signed each of them:
I’m getting so much joy out of painting again. Because I’m very busy in my business, I had to figure out how to make it all work time-wise. Instead of an intention of getting back to painting to have more creative outlets in my life, my intention is feeling better by doing a joyful activity that is creative and connects me to subject matter (beaches, water, sky, all things Florida, etc.) which makes me happy.
Because I shifted my intention to the true outcome: feeling better, feeling joyful, the execution—the how—became irrelevant. See, if I’d made getting back into painting about production, how many paintings can I do, selling them, etc., the joy would have completely gotten sucked out of the experience and I likely would have stopped painting altogether.
For You
What I invite you to examine as you’re setting your 2022 goals is to get to the heart of the true intention behind why you want a specific outcome. Make a list of the outcomes, and drill down to the real state of mind and state of being you’ll achieve. I guarantee it’s really about feeling better about whatever the topic is. Brainstorm how you can focus on feeling better and let how you get there become irrelevant. The stress will disappear. The inner critic will silence. The pressure and overwhelm that can often be associated with the execution will ease if not entirely disappear. Bottom line, give yourself permission to feel better. To have more joy in 2022. To give yourself relief from the things that had been taxing or a drain on your spirit. Let 2022 and the rest of your life be about freeing up your intention to be 1000% you. ❤️❤️❤️
