First week feistiness

On handling re-entry with self-compassion

Hello Feisties,

Happy new year! We may have just passed through “the most wonderful time of the year,” but I think January can be pretty great too. I enjoy all the renewal, the planning, the resolutions.

Until today. The day we have to make them real.

I got back to work today. Even though it seems a little close to the first day of the year, everyone else was beginning to pop up on LinkedIn and other platforms and there’s a bit of camaraderie, if only virtual, in starting up the business engines in tandem.

But like every re-entry, there’s a little discomfort on day one. What do I do? Who am I?

And more so: what did I say I’d do? Who was that girl with big ideas back in December making all these grand Q1 plans? Now that future time is here and I find myself thinking about how to fit it all in.

But I also remind myself that this growth doesn’t all have to happen today. So I spent part of the day working on cutting my to-do list into baby steps. Rearranging it by type of task. Cutting the bigger tasks down into smaller pieces and scheduling the harder ones for later in the week.

I also added a couple of fun experiments to my first day. I tried playing background music in my normally silent office. It’s still going 5 hours and 38 minutes later. Maybe it will become a thing. I also started my day with a hard task rather than my usual email check. Not sure I’ll be able to keep that one up, but it’s good to try. I’m a new person today. This year. I can try new things and fail at them. And maybe succeed at a few.

I can be feisty.

PS - I moved my OMG I forgot to plan 2024 one-day workshop to January 15 - want to join me for some feedback on your freelance goals? Visit https://feistyfreelancer.com/course/workshop1/