Cork life coach helping you stay on the right track throughout the new year

WHILE January brings a renewed sense of optimism and a chance to start afresh, this time of year can also be challenging for many people.

The new year can prompt us to ruminate on perceived faults and make us feel like we need to completely reinvent ourselves.

Midleton-based life and embodiment coach Rachel Francis, who does one-on-one online coaching sessions, has advised that people pump the brakes on the negative self-talk, saying that the “personal growth journey is not linear for any of us”.

“There are incredible days you feel like you’ve cracked the code and days you think you’ve regressed five years’ worth of progress.

“It is only in hindsight, much later on, that we can see how each little stumble, jump and leap was necessary to build the bigger picture. It’s all about your perspective,” she told The Echo.

“Each one of us could search for and find valid reasons to judge and blame ourselves just as much as we could find reasons to feel optimistic and motivated.

“Be gentle and supportive to yourself on your way. You are always right on time, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.”

Looking ahead to this year and goals we’d like to achieve or healthy habits we may want to form or improve on, Rachel suggests letting go of the word ‘resolutions’.

“Because we have such a stigma about resolutions inevitably failing, it’s easy to have this association before you even get started.

“My suggestion is to look at what you want to do as a way of life rather than a resolution,” she said.

“Be intentional about journaling your experiences, feelings and progress.

“This works to keep you on track by allowing you to see when things aren’t working or are absent from your routine so you can change what needs to be changed, and it also gives you a chance to feel proud of yourself for every accomplishment along the way.”

She says that setting the right kind of goal is of the utmost importance.

“Perhaps the most crucial point is to make sure your goal is aligned to your highest values and morals.

“Are you doing this for the right reasons?

“How is creating this new way of being connected to where you want to go? What will it mean for you to have success with it?

“How will having it change who you are and why is that important to you?

“Having goals is healthy. As humans, we are here to expand. When it becomes unhealthy is when we blame and shame ourselves and believe we have to change who we are at our core because who we have been up to this point isn’t valuable.

“Be open to change and expand your vision of yourself and your world but don’t use it as a way to belittle yourself. You’re here and you’re worthy of it all.”

She also stressed that “a timeframe has no meaning until we give it one”.

“Your success comes, not from crossing off the days on a calendar, but the blissful feeling you have when something is right for you. Trust this feeling. At every opportunity, create more of this.”