I have to admit something. I know that I am quite often talking about goal setting but I became so overwhelmingly busy the past couple of months, I didn’t make space for my own goal setting. I like to plan out my days, and am such an advocate for goal planners, but I haven’t looked at my planner for weeks. I was going off of my calendar in my phone because I didn’t even take the time to write things down the way I usually do. Being that busy is not something that I’m saying with a badge of honor. I don’t want to be that busy.

I acknowledge that I can do better.

Last week I wrote about what was going on in my life recently but this extends beyond that. I had been too busy for a while even before everything happened. So, now stepping back from it, I can see the need to create space for myself again to sit, think, and plan. I really want to be okay with not taking on more to make sure that I don’t get overwhelmed and so that I have more peace of mind and can protect my mental health stability.

Now that it’s November, the days are really getting shorter. And sometimes it can be hard when the seasons change, and the daylight savings kicks back in. It can even feel like a bit of pressure because everything ends sooner. There’s less time in the day to get things done. But as the days get darker, it also leads to a feeling of retreat too and I think it doesn’t have to be such a negative thing.

The other day, I decided to really embrace the shorter day and just went to bed earlier. I liked the idea of winding down a little bit earlier after our very full day. I had dinner a little earlier and went with the feeling.  It felt great. I have decided that I’m not going to resist that. I’m going to embrace the season change and allow it to slow me down, to sort of mellow life out. I want to settle into this flow and appreciate the beauty in this season of change as the leaves outside change.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have my goals. I actually think Fall is a good time to reassess your goals because everything is quieting down. Fall is the season of nature’s change and reset. So when the seasons change, I think it’s a good inspiration to think about how the seasons in your life are changing too. Where are you at? What is changing? Where do you want to go? And how can you get there?

I think that goals are important to plan when things are slower, as it is in slowing down that you create space for new plans. Fall is about slowing down and change, leading into winter that is about even more slowing down. I think of the winter season as about slowing down to enjoy your life, and the people in it, more.  It’s about celebrating each other and the excitement of tradition.

When you slow down and have a season of life indoors and warmth and being together, you can also draw inspiration from the calm and create space for goal setting. When things are so over the top busy, you don’t have the space to think of one more thing. I think that as a mom, obviously, that’s something that happens. But I think that at the end of the day, I realize I was not leaving space to fill up my own cup.

So over the past week, I have been meeting up with friends more. I even went with a friend to latin dancing night! I’m making an effort because those are things I need in my life. I met a friend for lunch the other day then went to dinner the other night and I’m just basically carving out more space to not make decisions. When I’m at lunch or dinner, I’m not making any decisions or thinking through any plans. I’m just catching up with my friends. It’s allowing myself that sort of blank time to clear my mind. And that time away from having to think through fills my cup. So when I need to sit down and plan, I have the energy and focus for it.

I also started doing yoga a couple of weeks ago and am making it a habit now every Thursday morning. The class I’ve chosen is a “restore yoga” class. This class I found is just what I need to slow down and empty my mind for an hour stretch. It’s in that effort of creating more space in my mind that I feel reset. I leave the space feeling inspired enough to set goals again, to move things forward, and plan.

I actually recently came across an explanation of yin and yang as it relates to creativity and productivity. You’ve probably already heard of yin and yang in relation to the concept of balance. In the context of goals, this quote explained that the slow time (the yin) is the resting time and the time when seeds are planted. Then the yang is the active time that follows, when the doing and blooming happens. Yang time needs yin time. I really loved that explanation.

During this season of change, I’m really going with the flow of slowing things down and carving out space to recharge and realign through some different routines so that I can really grow in the following seasons. In this resting time, I can make the space for planting the seeds of my goals that later will be able to blossom because I gave myself this time and space.

Fall in Chicago is really amazing. This season really can be a magical time if you let it. Last weekend, we attended a cozy wedding in Indiana that embraced the fall theme and I was really in awe of the beauty around outside. Fall has a slightly different feeling there than in Chicago, and the feeling of being outside there, around the colorful changing leaves was really inspiring.

So, I encourage you to embrace this season of change and the slowing down that we are currently in. It’s not that you have to let go of any goals. Rather, it’s allowing yourself enough space to fully appreciate them and think about the seasons in your life. It will allow you to look at your goals with a fresh perspective too. How might slowing with the season help you recharge and plant some seeds for where you want to go next? 

For those of you that continue to follow my writings, I want to thank you. I appreciate every single email that comes back to me with a “thank you,” and acknowledgement, or a story to relate to my writing. I appreciate all of you. 

I want to take this time to invite you to something that will launch Jan 1. It’s by invitation only and since you are reading this- you are the type of person I want inside GoalsLAB. Once you’re inside, you will see that it’s an incredibly supportive community of other individuals pursuing their goals, and supporting others with theirs. If you get on this Early Invite List- you will have access to insider pricing and the BEST GoalsLab PRICE. I hope you will consider to do some goal setting with you. 

If that resonates with you- forward this to a friend. Share it on your social media. Let’s all come together to form a very powerful GOAL SETTING community. See you there?

GET ON MY INVITE ONLY GUEST LIST HERE!