Thank gawd it’s 2023 – what say you?!
I was so pleased to close the door on 2022, and whilst we are only into the second week of 2023, it is proving to be a far better year already. Thank goodness for that, is all I can say – or words to that effect!
Last year was one of the most challenging I have experienced in a long, long time – you can read more about it in the ‘reflective’ blog post I wrote in December https://www.sarahjnaylor.com/2022/12/13/2022-youve-been-a-bstrd-of-a-year-the-highs-the-lows-the-learnings/
It wasn’t all bad; there were incredible highlights too. My fantastic photo shoot in Brighton being one of them when this great photo was taken.
Just looking at it now brings back so many amazing memories, not least the heat that the sky sadly doesn’t show here. It really was SO hot that day🥵! I had several outfit changes, including some shots in latex (more about that later), and the heat was causing my leggings to fill up with water (OK, it was sweat / perspiration!) and the photos were taken in around 7 or 8 different locations. Thank goodness the last one was in the sea (with Gareth) wearing a wetsuit.
Thanks to that day, I now have a wonderful set of professional photos that I can enjoy using over the coming year. I do know my fab photographer, Suzanne, will soon be after me to create a fresh set, so I had better crack on and make the most of these!
There were several other high points, not least my Harnessing Happiness podcast reaching its milestone first birthday back in October, under the professional production of the fab Pete Allen at Carrot Cruncher Podcast Network … it would not be what it is without Pete!🤩
In amongst the highlights though, the lows were very tough and they didn’t give up presenting challenges until the close of the year, by which point, I had totally surrendered to what will be.
We’re talking financial challenges which really do kick you in the gut – particularly when it’s stuff that is out of your control despite working so hard. That, as I said, was last year and I really DO NOT want to dwell upon how much it knocked me and kicked seven bells out of me either. Let’s take 2023 by the horns instead!
I have since focused my energies on all that I have learned, particularly in trusting my instinct and intuition and have fine-tuned my outgoings, what I spend my money on, whilst also doing very much the same in relation to income.
Last year, I started reading Get Rich Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas, and whilst I do still need to finish it (I’ve always been put off when it comes to Excel spreadsheets and having to extract all my info from various sources to populate them), one part of the manifestation exercise is to list EVERYTHING that is deemed an income from finding coins, to birthday money, vouchers, prize wins – you name it, you allocate a value to it. The point of the exercise is to keep seeing money coming in and being of the mindset that it is great that you’re able to pay bills, etc.
We’re talking where focus goes, energy flows and what you focus in on, manifests more of the same. It’s the Law of Attraction in action. As such, I have been focusing my mind on wealth and income generation as part of my intention to make 2023 a fantastic year.
And whilst on this financial focus, I have also signed up to and am working my way through this free Open University course – https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/mses-academy-money/content-section-overview?utm_source=mse&utm_campaign=ol&utm_medium=mse-news&active-tab=description-tab
However, I digress. Back to the point – 2023 is a completely different kettle of fish! It has started well, very well indeed, with lots of exciting stuff happening.
I have set my intentions this year for it to be one of positive changes.
You see, even being an experienced coach and businesswoman doesn’t make me immune from the challenges that life likes to throw my way. It does mean that I am thankfully able to navigate stuff with a tad more ease. But even that was heavily challenged during December when it felt like everything was crashing down around me.
That was 2022, and what has passed has passed. I have learned a lot from all that it presented, and I am using that fully to my advantage for 2023. And this is how I coach too – learning from the past, planning for the future, whilst also remaining firmly in the present.
I had to dig into my APE Mindset methodology, for sure (Acceptance, Perspective, and Energy) 💪🏼 – this is a blog post from last January (wow) that tells you more about it: https://www.sarahjnaylor.com/2022/01/25/running-with-apes/
So, here’s to the present and listening and trusting my instinct and intuition wholeheartedly, which I know will support my journey into the future. For me, this is what I sense:
- Coastal living – which coast though … my instinct will guide me
- Global travel – for work and pleasure
- TV & radio work – love the buzz of talking live on air; keen to produce documentaries too
- Writing – magazines and books, articles that focus on positive psychology, confidence, mindset, midlife magical fun, career changes and so much more
- Embracing all aspects of me from business to coaching, to writing, travel, fitness, and having loads of fun doing it all.
What do you want your present and your future to look like?
Please do let me know – I’d love to hear about your plans, your intentions, the Bigger Picture that you’re working towards. Having something to work towards is a great motivator!
Time to reflect on what prompted me to write this post and my thoughts so far:
This post was inspired by my fab friend and aforementioned photographer, Suzanne Fells, who was talking on LinkedIn about the power of professional photos and using them to illustrate posts on social media. It prompted me to use one and write the post.
Social media is great for raising your visibility in business, and I do enjoy aspects of it although the pressure that can be enforced upon you to follow patterns to get results doesn’t float my boat.
You can learn from others; however, it is important to follow your instinct and your intuition and do what works for you – and trust that what you are doing is working for you. There is, of course, a caveat to this statement – if something isn’t working, it is time to review your behaviour. Which is what I had to do last year – the stuff I was doing, which I had been encouraged to do, was simply not working. It was incongruent with my values and integrity – this also came to a head when I was approached regarding a potential article for The Sun. I never read that newspaper and, after my experience last year, I never will. Without going into all the details, they effectively wanted to put words into my mouth to create a story around some photos that simply weren’t true. I pulled the plug on it; it was all lies and completely out of sync with who I am and my values and beliefs.
Oh yes, I mentioned latex earlier. In short, my partner, Gareth introduced me to latex when we met over 2 years ago. My previous experience of attempting to wear this fabric had not been good – it appears there is an art form to getting it on and polishing it up to make it look great. Let’s face it, when you see Amanda Holden and others in the public eye wearing latex it looks AMAZING! I have acquired a few good quality items of latex, a catsuit, leggings, a couple of bodies, and a skirt and there’s nothing I love more than the opportunity to dress up in latex and take a few photos. Now I really need somewhere glamorous to wear it as it isn’t something you slip into to pop to the local shop!
A year ago, I set up another Instagram channel to share my love of latex – kinky camp fun and enjoyment is the way I view this channel. At the time of writing, I have just reached 17K followers and have had a couple of reels go viral: 461K views and 230K views and counting – it’s crazy!
But great fun.
The moral of this story is follow your flow – do what you enjoy doing. Learn from others, but be yourself – you do you, your way. And enjoy life. If it isn’t hurting anyone on purpose, and it brings you and others joy, get on with what you love doing. If there are folk that want to pull you down – let it go. I’ve had some negative activity on my account – I just delete it. The positives far outweigh the negatives and once they’re deleted, they’re gone.
Life is for living, learning, loving, and enjoying.
Here’s to an awesome 2023.
Lots of love,
Sarah xx
