My very personal back to school - better than ever

It’s back to school and for me it feels far more like the beginning of a new year than the first of January ever does. Also luckily, the beginning of September comes with less of a hangover and I feel a lot more refreshed, slightly tanned and the word semi-freddo, Italian for half-frozen, is something I associate mentally with ice cream and not with my hands in the cold January weather. September for me is a delightful month, full of the flavour of new beginnings, the excitement of finding autumn clothing and soft jumpers in the wardrobe that I have long forgotten about and meeting friends to catching up with after a long break.

I was lucky having had lots of travel over the summer, catching up on experiences post covid, and it was pure joy. I worked only little and spent time with family and friends, often on a beach or eating very ripe nectarines, my biggest worry being if my fair skinned girls would have enough sun cream applied.  It was a proper break some time away from the desk and the daily routine and it felt like a weight had been lifted off, occasionally, it felt like floating.

Now, back in London, it is up to me to use this rest and relaxation, the break and feeling of lightness and freedom, to somehow weave into my daily routine. I know it is possible. However, it is not only the light cloud on the London skies that casts a shadow on the hope of keeping summer in my every day. It is more my own mind and possibly the well-known surroundings that trigger old thought patterns and some negative thinking that I still carry with me somewhere in the back and sometimes in the front of my mind. 

So I decided to not give in and be swept away with getting back into an old routine that doesn’t work any longer. Why would I when I can get a new one with relatively little effort? So I made some “new year’s” resolutions and I have a strong feeling I might stick to them.

So here is (part of) the list:

• Reassess my values and what is important to me and use my time accordingly
• Actively tackle negative thoughts when they try to creep in
• Keep worry times short
• Be very generous with self-praise
• Model behaviour to my children that makes them feel loved and valued (by showing them self-love, applied)

This is quite ambitious I guess but my days are extremely valuable to me (they are counted after all) and I deserve having really good days. I’m lucky to have many tools that help me on the way.

Before the long summer break, I’ve been busy creating lovely new products, one of them will help me with tackling negative thoughts. The Brag Book, as it is called, will be used to count all my wins and successes, a proven way to banish negative thoughts and get onto a circle of thinking more positively!

I also intend to be more open about new ways to make my days better. I always dismissed meditation in the past. It felt too slow and time-consuming and something that would not be a match with my very active (at times low attention span) personality. But I guess that is exactly the point. Changing things for the better with new methods and tools that I have dismissed because they “weren’t for me”.  I might not get into the habit of meditation, who knows, but I will let you know and I will give it a go this time.

Anna x