I love a bit of new year planning.

That feeling of a brand new year ahead of me, the chance to review the journey so far. Celebrate my ta-da’s from the year that’s been, marvel at what’s changed (and what hasn’t!) and set my intentions for the year ahead.

But here’s the thing – if you haven’t had a chance to do that yet, you haven’t missed the boat.

New Year’s Day. Ditch the Resolutions Day. Blue Monday

These are just arbitrary days. Yes, they can be helpful to generate momentum – and yes, a deadline can be a powerful thing. But when you feel like you’re constantly treading water trying to keep up with all the dates, it’s worth asking

Who’s setting the dates?

Take Blue Monday for example – supposedly the most depressing day of the year. Turns out it was part of a travel company’s PR campaign to get more people booking holidays in January!

In a world where work never ends, it’s up to us to define our own finish lines.

It’s also up to us to define our own starting lines.

The first of January seems like a nice neat starting line.

But it doesn’t have to be the only one.

As 2018 rolled towards 2019 I had a hunch of what I wanted to release, create and change in the year ahead. But I needed time and headspace to flesh it out. For some people that week between Christmas and New Year is the perfect time to review and plan, but for me, that was a week of pyjamas, board games and random meal times!

It’s taken me the best part of two weeks to do that thinking – and that’s after going back to work on 8th January.

Even now, it’s tempting to rush it – to play catch up. Instead, I’m reminding myself to take my time and say – to myself as much as to you – all in good time.

So if you’re feeling rushed into another cycle of crazy – you haven’t missed the boat, just because you see others racing around in their boats.

It’s your boat remember? You choose when and how you get started.

Let me know how you get on in the comments below…!