Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?
Let the bells ring out for Christmas.
And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day.
As the festive season kicks in the bells are beginning to ring out.
Bells are synonymous with this time of the year. So too are bells synonymous with track athletics. A bell is sounded as athletes commence their final lap in a race.
The bells of Christmas signify the last lap in 2019.
If you watch any race the athletes are having to dig deep, the energy levels and reserves are running low.
This time of year, our last lap, is associated with lower levels of energy reserves. And yet we, like athletes, can react to the bell by trying to push on and push harder.
It’s so helpful to mind and manage ourselves as we take the bell in 2019. Here’s three ways that can help you cross the finish line this year in the best possible way:
Focus on the Controllables:
Irrespective on the time of year one thing is certain. Where you have greatest possibility of creating good outcomes is focussing on the things you can control (or at least strongly influence). Your workload, your key relationships, your rest, your exercise (remember Des!), your fun, your Vitamin D levels (so important for energy levels) etc. all fall into this category.
The more of your energy you spend here the more you are likely to experience positive returns for the remainder of the year.
Embrace Less in Decision-Making:
As this is a period commonly associated with lower energy, we may as well embrace it in our decisions. There is so much we can do, so many places we can go and so many people we can see. And yet we’re likely working off lower reserves to fit this all in.
Take decisions that honour the energy you feel you have in your body.
Use the Bell:
You’re going to hear the word bell frequently between now and the finish line of 2019. From time to time when you hear the word, use it as an opportunity to check-in with yourself.
Ask yourself, ‘how well I am managing myself to the finish line of 2019 just now?’.
This is such a lovely time of year.
Let the bell guide you through to the finish line in the nicest possible way.