Today I’m sharing three things I love about January. I feel sometimes like January is the Marmite of the months. People either love it or they hate it. It's a fresh start, but it's the dead of Winter. There is time to reflect on the year gone by, but it's really cold and it feels like Summer will never be here. I'm a January lover though. Through and through. Here are three things I just LOVE about the first month of the year.
Reviewing / Reflecting.
Ah, time to look over all the triumphs and failures of the last year. I treat this time much like I would have a critique during my art school years. It is time to get some real feedback. Whether it is positive or negative - it helps. I find it just as important to celebrate my successes as reflect on what could have gone better. It gives me a good starting point for the year ahead. I spend time reviewing my business and my personal life. I take time to remember all the good things that happened (I'm working even harder on this for this year - I will celebrate the good things so I don't forget them. I will keep track of these triumphs so that when I'm feeling hopeless because one little thing didn't go right I can remind myself of all the things that did go right.)
Goal / Target Setting for the year ahead.
I really like setting S.M.A.R.T. goals so I can easily track my progress. It gives me the chance to check in (which I do at the very least on a monthly basis) and see where I need to focus my energy. I have spreadsheets, graphs and everything. I've got a series of business goals and personal goals for this year and I can't wait to see how I do with them. I totally smashed my 2017 goals so I am feeling great about that and feeling the confidence in myself to smash the 2018 ones just as much! I'm hoping I've set them just the right amount of challenging to keep me going but not too much so I lose interest.
My birthday!
January is my birthday month! The 27th to be precise. This year my birthday falls on a Saturday - HOW EXCITING IS THAT! I'm looking forward to celebrating another year. More next week on what I did to celebrate.
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on January. Are you a lover or a hater? Do you have any recommendations for a birthday cake recipe? Get in touch!