Is it just us, or does the end of the year feel like a weird time for working professionals? It evokes contradictory desires where you want to double down on your ongoing projects but also want to unwind and take a break at the same time? You’ve worked throughout the year, so you want to relax and enjoy the holidays. However, the plans for the coming year also make you want to take the bull by the horns.
We spend our year moving back and forth between two states; doing and thinking. While both are equally important, periods like the year-end are a good time to reflect on a year’s worth of activity and envision the possibilities in the year ahead.
Here’s a riddle for you; you go to the gym to exercise and lift weights from Monday to Friday and then rest on Saturday. Now, on which of these days do you have the most energy? The answer is Sunday, because your mind and body are at their highest potential after a period of effective rest. Thus, making relaxation a productive activity.
This logic applies to professional exertion as well. So, using those last weeks of December to rest and reflect on the past and future year becomes an energising move. And if working hard has left your relaxation muscles rusty, let’s take a moment to revise how to engage in effective relaxation.
Reflection: You’ve worked hard throughout the year, you’ve been through ups and downs, pains and delights, victories and learnings, and much more. Last few weeks of the year are a good time to look back and meditate on the events you’ve lived through.
As they say, life is to be lived with foresight and understood in hindsight.
This exercise depends on your knowledge of yourself, your work, and the world in which you operate. These insights are invaluable in understanding where you’ve performed well, which areas need improvement, and where you can find opportunities.
Celebration: Introspecting on your decisions, actions, and outcomes will give you clarity, insight, and wisdom. Each one of them makes for a good reason to celebrate the distance you’ve travelled. And if you’ve learnt from any of your mistakes, then get yourself another cake.
Celebration is a way of taking accountability of your actions, accepting them, and moving towards improvement.
Celebrating milestones enables you to conclude the ongoing chapter of your story and start a fresh one.
Re-initiation: This doesn’t mean to erase your memory; it means to move all of past year’s data to your storage drive and erase it from the immediate ROM memory of your mind. Getting your mind off of work gives your train of thoughts a necessary break.
What truly primes you to start a new professional year with a new spirit is to let go of what has been.
The change allows new thoughts, ideas, and perspectives to play on an otherwise occupied field. Consequently, it boosts your interest, motivation, and productivity when you start work anew.
While regular breaks are important for optimum functioning, seasonal unwinding is crucial to make sense of your journey and chart the course ahead.
On this note, we wish you a productive break and a fulfilling new year!
Psst! This blog was made with💚 and created after some thought by a real person.#NoGenerativeAI
