Time for a review
Auld Lang Syne
As we come to the end of 2024 some of us may be tempted to look back over the past year and reflect. This is perhaps something we may be more inclined to do if we feel we are still on a journey, as a quote attributed to Rick Warren notes “Remember how far you've come, not how far you have to go……You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be”.
There are those that say don’t look back, only look forward, and there are those that say you can only learn how best to move forward if you look back. But ultimately self-reflection is made up of our own perception of where we are, how we got there, what we think our needs are, and how we feel about what may come next.
Let’s not forget that how we define ourselves can come from both positive and negative experiences. Protections can be created that then become embedded so deeply that they then limit our beliefs about ourselves and can become counterproductive, and with layering of experiences these can build up over time to become deeply ingrained.
Our perception therefore is bound to be the culmination of all the things that led us to this moment, but we are given, in that moment, at any moment, the possibility of change. This is perhaps one of the most glorious things about being human.
We marvel at the transformation of others, feel a great sense of achievement when we do this for ourselves, but we all know that any success comes back to a single moment, a moment when the trajectory changes.
As practitioners this is the catalyst we seek out for our clients. Either to be the catalyst from a psychological perspective, a physiological perspective, depending on our professional specialisms or to be a guide to another possibility for that catalyst to emerge for that client.
As people we know that sometimes the change can come at a time when we feel on a roll and something just clicks, or when we are feeling hopeless, stuck in a dark moment that seems like it will last forever. Sometimes, probably mostly, it can feel elusive and that is when we tend to stop believing, deflate and very occasionally in that moment of surrender the spark happens.
So as 2024 draws to a close don’t forget to congratulate yourself on everything you have achieved this year, no matter how big or small and take a moment to consider how you’ve evolved, what you’ve learned and perhaps even make a note of the ways in which you feel more empowered, so that in the year ahead on the days when you’re stuck in the moment, you can remind yourself that it isn’t always dark at 6.
The song Auld Lang Syne is sung at Hogmanay, and the essence of the song is that we bid goodbye to one year, so that another can begin. Sometimes we must let something go in order that something new can come in its place. So, as we reflect on the past year, and make resolutions for the new one, leaving a space for the new may also just leave a little room for something magical to happen.
A final thought. Practitioners can find it hard to maintain optimum health when they run busy practices, are doing additional study or try to combine business with family commitments, or all the above. We have been having this discussion in the office about how practitioners are making changes in 2025. We are hearing ideas such as changing a working schedule entirely to deliver a better work life balance, so rather than working part-time during the entire work to condense clinic hours to just 2-3 days leaving 2 days free for anything (perhaps even CPD!). Another idea is to bring in a new practitioner to a clinic to share the workload, maybe one with a different lens such as a health coach, thereby making working life a more collegiate experience. We would love to hear your ideas on this so we can share them and deliver even more ideas in our clinic corner for 2025. We would also love to hear your ideas on how to get a better work-life balance and make healthcare work even more enjoyable for a project we are developing in 2025. So do get in touch via [email protected]