School’s back!
Ask any primary 1 school teacher what a difference a year makes and they will likely reply HUGE!
In recent weeks, primary starts have taken their first steps in school life. Apprehensive and overwhelmed with a sprinkling of nervous excitement, they tiptoe through their early days. Fast forward 9 months and now bold and self-assured, these same children will be barely recognisable having grown in many more ways than height alone.
Similar development takes place at all stages of education every year. Teachers, pupils and students can all feel daunted at the challenges and changes of the school year ahead: curriculum to cover, grades to achieve, applications to make and futures to map out.
What all these have in common is change. A new start is often accompanied by doubts and worries such as:
What if I find it too hard
What if everyone else is better than me
What if I fail
I liken the change process to wearing a new pair of school shoes. The first day you get blisters, the next day less so and by the end of the week, the shoes are scuffed and blisters healed. A few weeks on and the shoes are so comfy you forget to change out of them!
The real growth comes not only from tangible gains but from tapping into the inner resources and reserves we all have (yes you too!) such as perseverance, focus and resilience when the going gets tough.
Annual Planning
A number of years ago, on purchasing an academic calendar for my daughter, it suddenly struck me that this could be a useful planning period for me too. Having made the decision when my children were young that I would work mainly term time, the academic year suited me so much better than the traditional year.
Whilst the US do their business planning in the month of December so they can begin the new year ready and raring to go, I spend the first few days of the new school year mapping out what I want – both professionally and personally – over the year ahead.
In my view, rather than the usual post-Xmas lull, this time of year lends itself much better to planning your year ahead.
Here are few quick tips to help you with your Early Autumn Annual Planning:
- Set aside time in early September to plan your year ahead
- Buy an academic calendar to use to tie in with your new year (I like Collins Colplan Mid-Year Academic Memo Calendar, £4.14 Amazon.co.uk at time of press)
- For busy families, another favourite of mine is the Boxclever Press Family Weekly Planner calendar (£11.99 amazon.co.uk at time of press). I use this for family and personal life and the Collins Academic Calendar for work.
- Break the year down into segments of 3 months Sept – Dec, Jan – March and April – June. Like education, this allows 9 months for intensive work and the summer for fun.
- Be clear about what outcomes you would like over this coming 3 month, 6 and 9 month period to further your growth and development and to carve out the professional and/or personal life you really want.
Where then will you be in Summer 2019? What would you like to be different?
To help you on your way, ask yourself these three simple questions:
- What do I really want?
- What is stopping me?
- What needs to happen for me to decide to make my desired change(s)
If you would love to be in a different place and would like help to get there, my new Career Clarity Programme is starting soon. Email me today at nurtureHR if you would like further information or to find out if my Career Clarity Programme is right for you (or someone you know).
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