Being vs. doing

January can be an intense month of 'doing', so this week I want to make sure we're not so wound up in doing that we're forgetting why. Two points feel highly relevant at this time of year:

1. Firstly, if you've set new year goals or resolutions, make sure they’re not just a shopping list of things to do like ‘achieve X, visit Y, do Z’ … yawn.
   While you might have been super inspired when you first wrote the list, it's easy to become detached over time. We forget why we wanted to do the thing in the first place. We lose motivation and stop making progress. You’re presumably aiming to do these things in pursuit of happiness, but it’s easy to unintentionally start believing you will only be happy when you have finally completed the new year resolutions you set because they don’t leave any wiggle room.
   Rather than asking, 'what do I want to do in 2021?' a better question is 'who do I want to BE in 2021?' For example, what kind of friend do you want to be? How do you want to behave at work? How do you want colleagues to describe your contribution? This is based more on who you are (who you are being) than what you're doing.

2. Secondly, it's a popular time of year to be thinking about a career move. A common question to ponder is 'what do I want to do?' but again that’s a very task-orientated approach. It reduces ourselves to a job description and list of requirements to tick off.
   A better question to reflect on in relation to your career is: 'what do I want to be?'

   This will lead to a broader thought process about your options and is more likely to create a feeling of fulfillment.

Remember when you were a child? Teachers, parents etc may have asked you what you want to be when you grow up. It encouraged you to be brave and open to opportunity. I wanted to be an ice skating champion (despite the fact I'd been to an ice rink once!)
When we're thinking about career moves it's better to think about how we want to feel, how we want to be…THEN look at the skills, tasks, job descriptions to enable that. In January we can get things backwards in our haste to plan a 'successful' 2021. More being, combined with conscious doing will set us up better.

P.S. I’m happy to share that Baby Hutchings (we've called her Florence) arrived safely in January! If you want to see pictures, connect on Instagram @kat_thecoach.