At the start of the year, I set some Q1 intentions, loosely based around my word for the year: space. Turns out, I’m incredibly glad I didn’t have any super specific goals. This end of this first quarter has been pretty… different, to say the least!
Doing my quarterly review felt almost a bit pointless. Surely nothing would have progressed now that the world is in stasis? But actually, I’m so glad I did this, as I have moved farther forward than I expected.
This has truly surprised me and made me feel a bit more hopeful for the next quarter. It’s a strange world out there right now! I wonder if we’ll be back to any kind of normal by the end of Q2?
Physical space
My husband and I separated, and my children, our au pair, and I all moved out at the start of March.
Clearly this involved a lot of upheaval in itself. But I think the sign that it was absolutely the right decision was how quickly our new place has come to feel like home. Even before we unpacked, I felt comfortable in the house, and the kids fell in love with it immediately.
I’ve been so overwhelmingly grateful for this new space over the past month in particular. I was really struggling in our previous living situation, and that’s with me going out every day to work in the office or at a friend’s house, and with Theo going to school every day, and with Beatrice going out to play group, and with going out for dinner with friends etc. Not a day goes by where I don’t give thanks that I am not living there now, with the lockdown situation as it is.
The new house is full of light, both literal and metaphorical. It’s actually been pretty joyous here these last few weeks (and again – daily gratitude taking place for that).
Financial space
One thing I was struggling with last year was figuring out where my money should be going. So – I was doing monthly reviews of my expenditure, and I should have always had enough to pay for everything, but money always felt extremely tight.
That’s still the case now. Because of the move, I had a LOT of expenses in March, which I was anticipating, but which still felt a bit painful. Like, I had to buy 2 new beds and 3 mattresses. Even from IKEA, that bites!
But I did have some wins here. Within the ‘financial space’ arena, two things I really wanted to do were to gain 2 new clients and launch a product. I did both! I started working with one new 6 month client in January, and one new 3 month client in March.
And I launched a content planning workbook at the start of the year which sold double what I had planned. In retrospect, I wish I had priced it *slightly* higher, but it was the first one I’ve ever done. I learned so much from the launch that I’ll come to use next time.
Mental space
At the end of 2019, I felt like I’d become one of those people who says ‘I’m so busy’ all the time.
Well – I am NOT busy right now. Ha! Life has slowed down to a snail’s pace as the entire country has shut its doors and is staying inside.
I was struggling a lot with my mindset at first. I was overthinking every worst case scenario and freaking out about the potential economic ramifications. Understandable, maybe, but not helpful. There was a period of about 3-4 weeks where I was not able to read or think creatively.
Fortunately I feel like I’m coming out of that now, as though a fog is starting to lift from my brain. I’m enjoying the lack of busy, and the opportunity to spend more time with my kids, and focus on projects that I love so much but have neglected of late (this blog, for example!).
One of the things I highlighted when I wrote my intentions for this year was just how unfit I was becoming. I felt like all of my clothes were starting to squeeze. I wanted to start moving my body more and I definitely have managed that. For the first time in a VERY long time, I have been feeling excited to work out. I think because my body is even more inactive than usual, staying at home has had the surprising effect of making me want to bust out the YouTube videos and move!
I even joined an online gym – WHO EVEN AM I?
But other elements of ‘self care’ were very lacking. I wanted to go for a massage every other month. I wanted to book in for a hair cut – no. These are the things I wish I had done probably more than anything else, because how long will it be until I get to do them again!?
What’s coming up for Q2?
It’s incredibly hard to figure out what’s next right now. When will the lockdown be over? It feels like it’ll be well into the end of summer before we even start to do ‘normal’ things like take the train or go into a bookshop for pleasure.
But this pandemic will and must end at some point, and I need to support my family, so work carries on. I really believe that people ARE buying right now, so my job now is to make my offering relevant.
I am going to talk more about what I do and book more one-to-one clients. I’m focusing on education, as I started two courses that I’d love to finish by the end of the quarter. I’m going to continue to move my body every single day. And I’m going to relish the time I have with my children.
Having this much time with them is FULL ON, even though I still have help looking after them. But I will never get this time again, so as exhausting as it can be, it’s also incredibly sweet to have it, and I’m soaking it up as much as I can.
Want to work together?
If you are an author or small business owner who wants to create a content plan to engage your audience, and which you will actually stick to, I can help! You can find out about what I do here.
I’m particularly keen to run one-off sessions, where we dive into your audience and brainstorm content ideas for you to run with over the coming months.
Full rates are on the website, and I’m running a special offer in the next month (until 15th May) so if you’d like to work together on figuring out a plan that works for you, get in touch.
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