A decade in drawings, my word of the year and a new Carousel check-in tool!
Hello Carousellers,
Happy New Decade!
You may or may not have noticed that there was no December Carousel, as I came down with flu. At first I felt anxious that I hadn't kept up the consistency of a monthly newsletter, but then I realised: it doesn't really matter. There is nothing like getting ill to make you totally surrender and return to the basics of what does matter: getting well, eating healthy food and being surrounded by people you love, (plus binge-watching 'The Crown.')
I'm sharing this, not to excuse myself, but to invite you to think of things you feel you 'have to do' in your life - whether that's posting regularly on social media for your business, or a recurring weekly meeting that's you've never questioned. What would happen if you didn't? It shouldn't have to take us to be ill to realise what truly needs our attention. (And, be honest, did you even notice there was no Carousel last month...? Yes, Sarah! It ruined my Christmas!)
Carousel check-in tool!
Over new year a friend asked me how she could use the Carousel to check-in with her projects. What emerged was this tool. I would love to hear how you get on with it!
My decade in drawings
Bill Gates once said that we over-estimate how much we can achieve in 1 year and under-estimate what we can do in 10. This definitely resonated with me: I never thought I'd be able to build a computer franchise as quickly as I have!
But, in all seriousness, month to month I can feel like nothing has shifted, although so much has changed:
10 years ago I was working as a secondary school teacher full time.
I knew there was something else I wanted to do, but had no idea about my 'skills' or 'passions.'
The concept of work being fun seemed like a far off utopia.
I didn't know anyone who ran a business, and had never heard of a 'side-hustle'.
I had a really bad relationship with money; I never opened bank statements and only knew how much money I had when my card was declined.
I didn't even play the ukulele! (How most people now know me).
I decided to draw my decade in sketches, tracking the transition from full time employment, to learning what made me happy, to turning these into side hustles and finally, now, earning a living from my own projects. I've put it into a blog post here.
For those of you who are also experimenting with the move from full time work to self-employment, have a think about which categories your projects have gone through. There can be the tendency to only see a project as successful when it's our full time income, but there are so many other steps along the way.
What's your word of the year?
For as long as I can remember the new year has started with inquiring 'what do I want to do this year?', listing all the activities and achievements I was keen to explore - then jumping straight in. I love the buzz of multi-hyphen-creation, but notice that the excitement can very quickly turn to overwhelm, as all the seedlings of projects turn into huge plants!
This year I have chosen BREATHE as my word:
i) To remind me to physically take a deep breathe in anxious moments.
ii) To allow space for the unknown to emerge.
Over Christmas and New Year the idea came to me that maybe I didn't want to run the Paris Marathon after all. I felt disconnected with it and, if I'm honest, just didn't want to dedicate all that time to running. As soon as I'd made the decision I noticed my mind go straight away to what I could do instead: ideas poured in - holidays, projects, other challenges. Seeing as part of the reason for quitting the marathon was to have more time, it was interesting how eager I was to fill it up again. So - BREATHE.
Two pieces of wisdom I heard recently
1. With every action ask yourself, 'am I doing this with the energy of devotion or the energy of duty?' (Nisha Moodley)
2. When we are talking to someone and we find commonality, that is not actually good listening.
Eg. if someone is telling us a story and we say, 'yes, I also burned out last year', 'oh, I'm also from Devon!', it isn't really listening to what they're saying, it's more about us processing it. To truly listen, we need to let them speak and respond to how they're feeling about the content, rather than the content.
What do you think of this?
This was on The Coach's Journey podcast with Robbie Swale interviewing Catriony Horey. .I really recommend a listen to anyone who is getting into coaching. Thanks, Teenie for passing it on!
A beautiful song:
I spent New Year's eve on Kate Taylor's 'Magnify Your Radiance' Retreat moving through a labyrinth; a maze laid out on the floor in fairy lights (see photo at top). As we walked and danced towards the centre of the spiral, we were invited to think of a question we had, and be aware of any answers that came to us. This song was playing as I moved through, and it seemed to have a lot of the answers I needed!
An offer:
I would love to offer 10 people a new year Carousel Coaching session. That is, to use the model to plan what's currently going on in your life and understand where all the different projects are. Please respond to this newsletter if you'd like to take part!
So, what's on my carousel right now?
In focus: learning Swahili and being a linguist again, getting ready to travel to Kenya with my family, Power of Uke workshops this week, my driving test (!)
Coming into focus: Sending off a book proposal
I'd love to hear what resonated from this newsletter and what's on your Carousel right now.
Love Sarah x
JAN/FEB - Things to get involved in:
Winter Happiness Festival - THIS WEEKEND!
Movement Medicine with Mira - every Wednesday at the Arc Centre
Rye Laughs - February 20th - Peckham Springs (tickets on sale this week)
Rose Johnson (my co-host for Rye Laughs) is doing a solo show at The Vault