Sarah’s summer challenge 1:
Setting your goals for 2016
As women, we get up in the morning, we look at ourselves in the mirror and we look at what needs doing, then we touch ourselves up for the day ahead. The same could be done when we’re planning for our year ahead – to take an objective look at ourselves. This time of year is a really good time to reflect and ask ourselves, “How has my year been? What was good about it?” What I hope is that when we do take these moments to reflect, we realise that we are responsible for what occurs and how that might look – and what we have to do to make that happen. We’re very good at attributing the way things are happening in our lives to our circumstances.
But if we want to make a change, it’s up to us. If you take time to write down what you want your life to look like, the more you start to think about it and the more you experience it coming to fruition. You then feel more optimistic about stretching your goals a bit wider.
Challenge: Get a journal and ask yourself, “What were the best things that happened this year?” and write them down. Then ask, “What were five things that I found difficult?” and write them down, knowing it’s a solutions-orientated process. Ask yourself, “What are three things I could do differently next year to change this?”
Sarah’s summer challenge 2:
Digital detox
We know the negative effects of being constantly connected, but we find it difficult to make changes to our habits. Because a lot of the way we live is around technology, and it’s part of what’s normal, we don’t recognise that it is over-stimulation. There’s an addictive side to social media; every time your brain receives a different piece of information – for example by scrolling through Facebook and seeing 10 different items – it gets a little dopamine hit. We think we’re just logging on for a few minutes but it affects us hugely. For one week, I had no screen-time after dinner and was astounded by the difference it made. I wasn’t crashing into bed exhausted, I was sleeping through the night and I was waking early, curious to get up. For that to be so astounding shows me we have completely lost touch with the fact it’s the normal way to function.
Challenge: Start to manage your time online. I don’t want to say cut it out altogether, because it’s how we live and work these days, but manage it. We will feel different if we change how we live on our screens.
Sarah’s summer challenge 3:
Hold onto your holiday self
We have to stop saying, “Okay, back to reality now,” when it’s time to return to work. Try not to think of holiday as ‘good’ and going back to work as ‘bad’. Look at what it is that makes you feel restored on your holiday – good sleep, sitting with a glass of wine and talking to a friend, reflecting on our lives. There’s no reason those moments can’t be placed in our daily lives; they are little things that make a difference and we need to prioritise them.
Challenge: Plan your ideal week, for example, “I’d like to catch up with a friend,” “I’d like to exercise a couple of times.” Work out what makes your week feel good, then plan those activities and stick to them. We’re more energised in the more mundane aspects of our lives when we’ve done things that enrich us.
