Have you already forgotten that this year was going to be the year of alignment? The year you only do what you love and you love everything you do?

Yes, I do bring the word LOVE into the workplace. No, I am going to stop doing that.

No, I am not stupid, I know that only doing what you love and loving what you do does not happen overnight.

I do know it does happen with a strategy and with a plan and one action step at a time.

Alignment means acknowledging winter. Yes, the physical season and Yes the natural season for us too.

Winter means personal development work.

The season of winter is usually cold and hard, it is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter) and a hard layer is formed on the surface of the ground, a frost, a snow or an ice layer.

It is impenetrable and so it should be. This layer is very important to our physical survival.

It means that nothing can get into the Earth to harm or damage it. It means that the ground, under the hard layer is protected, it is free to keep warm (the heat is trapped under the hard layer) it is free to rest, to replenish, to gently reproduce the nourishment it contains within the soil.

We do not see this work taking place, we are not meant to. It is designed to look as if nothing is happening and yet plenty is happening. It is preparing for Spring.

I know we currently have crazy weather, it is too warm and too wet, so if we don’t see the seasons being reliable and predictable why should we be too? After all, if the seasons are out of sorts doesn’t it follow that we can be out of sorts too?

Yes and No.

Yes, it could follow if you let it but you are far too intelligent than that.

You know if the principle is that winter shows nothing on the outside and achieves everything on the inside, then this principle is true for you also.

It is time for you to show nothing on the outside and achieve everything on the inside.

But wait

There is one IMPORTANT thing before you jump in and start all of the personal development work you have ever wanted to do.  

Before you design your personal development work map……

REMEMBER

That it is January

Named after the God Janus

The one that looks BACK as well as forward, before you look forward you look back.

Today make the decision to reconnect with your personal development work

Make the decision to do that work that is important to your physical survival.

Make the decision to rest, to replenish, to gently reproduce the nourishment it contained within you, your soil.

Make the decision to be okay with other people not seeing this work taking place, they are not meant to, your personal development work is not their business.

You know plenty is happening. You are preparing for Spring.

Making these decisions today is work enough.

In the next post, we'll look at the work of looking back :)

Love Karen xx

NB some of this content has come from a previous blog post, from last January, because every year at this time we are guided to make the decisions, to do the personal development work, to look back, and then to look forward. 

Love Karen xx