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Happy New Year! It’s the New Year, and our pre-holiday stress is slowly turning into a full-blown post-holiday rut. As if the entire weight of the year’s pressures, challenges, failures, and even victories were pressing harder and harder on us. And as much as we are all looking for a new start in 2014, both professionally and personally, there is this profound sense of much-needed change from the already established course of life we so need to get away from… Unless, of course, it involves some lavish lifestyle of vacations and farniente somewhere on a yacht in the Greek Islands…which for many of us, it doesn’t…So when the going gets tough and the tough have to get going, how do we manage to get out of this mental rut so we can start the New Year on a positive, uplifted and encouraging note?
Let Go of the Old…As comfortable as your old routine may be, and as long as you may have been doing the same thing over and over and over again, it can feel like clinging to the old is just so much easier. And indeed it is…Why explore other professional opportunities when your old, dead-end 9-to-5 is as comfortable as your favorite old pair of slippers? Why enroll in continuing education classes when you can just keep the same position and barely keep afloat? Yet if it only remotely starts to feel like the familiar is no longer enough, that your’re bored out of your brain cells, or that you’re no longer motivated or challenged, then it may be time to consider a new pair of slippers, or just letting go….
Let In The New…It could be as simple as changing your hair, writing your statement of purpose for the year, or even taking a different route to work in the morning! Allow for new elements in your daily routine, or change your daily routine altogether. The more you challenge yourself to do things differently, the more you will see things differently, and be motivated to make a change for the better. And even if this is just temporary, at least it would revv up your mental engines for a bit…
You have the right to put yourself first! Last but not least, this is the year to be selfish! Yes, it sounds bad, and no, it will not make you more popular with your friends. But it will save your sanity, give you more time to actually build a successful career, and help you avoid a skin breakout or two…So whether it’s making it to that kickboxing class you bought a Groupon for (I’m speaking for myself), or freeing up some time to take that certification, or even just spending some quality time with your partner while enjoying “Scandal”, you need to start prioritizing yourself! Not just so you can achieve more, but so you can just be all you can be…
Are you ready to get out of your post-holiday rut?
The Corporate Sister.
