When I ask people how they’re feeling, the most common response is ‘tired’. Some businesses have been struggling to navigate growth with the chronic labour/skills shortage, meaning people are doing more. Some businesses have been struggling to navigate lockdown-driven downturns. Everyone has been feeling an emotional toll from the uncertainty in their business and personal lives. I have personally never felt so tired, and I don’t remember fatigue being so high en masse.
It is a natural time of year for all of us to reflect, re-energise and reset for the new year. If you do have a ritual around setting goals for the new year, it is always useful to be clear on your context first and allow the goals to flow from there.
What is context? It is an anchor. A ‘why’. A criteria to pass decisions through. For example, when choosing a meal at a restaurant, your choice will depend on whether you are running a context of tasty, healthy or cheap? You may have a few contexts but there is always a primary one on any given day and that usually determines the decision.
We were out with some friends recently and watching the various contexts ricocheting around the table was interesting. The ‘tasty’ people were devouring the multitude of options on the menu, whilst the ‘healthy’ people were disappointed with the lack of variety. When a ‘tasty’ person was reminded of his goal (to lose weight) he quickly changed his context and turned to the salad options!
The trick is to be aware of your context before you make your decision. That way you’re making a conscious choice and not reacting to comfort food!
Being the start of the year is a good time to set a context for 2022. There are no doubt many things on your to-do list. Lift yourself above the ‘content’ and challenge yourself to zoom in on one primary ‘context’ for 2022. Come hell or high water, what will 2022 be the year of?
My context for 2022 is ENERGY. “Manage your energy not your time” is an old quote I will be using more intentionally in the new year.
Wishing everyone a very merry christmas and an intentional 2022, driven by whatever your context is!