Don't forget to look back as well as forward

I’m at the end of another year, and like so many of us, as I look back I wonder how we got here so quickly! Look Back

One of the learnings of reaching midlife that I’m finding is how quickly I can move from my more intentional self to my execution-driven self in order to get through the tsunami of things that I need/feel/should do. This default mode of relentless activity sees me moving from thing to thing with laser-focused drive. And before I know it, the year is up, and I’m wondering how I got so caught up again in the cycle of doing.

However, as I look back it’s been a little quieter these past couple of weeks at Wise Sherpa, and in the stillness, I’ve taken time to reflect on the past 12 months both on a personal and professional level. To both recognise the achievements and the challenges the year has presented – something we so rarely do and yet is incredibly powerful.

So, here’s what I’m celebrating heading into the end of this year:

Professional

1. Another year into my journey successfully running my business and I’m as committed to my choice of running my own business!
2. Some truly rewarding collaborations as an associate with a range of impact organisations focused on meaningful change.
3. Both as Wise Sherpa as well as with some talented colleagues facilitating, developing and delivering events, programmes and thought leadership for a range of fantastic impact-focused organisations including on:

-The Board You Cannot Afford – A powerful tool for leadership

-Founder health series covering topics such as managing challenging relationships and parenting as a founder

-Impact investors and founders – Healthy Founders = Health Start-Ups 

-Strategic leadership for female founders’

-Female leaders and transitions in midlife

4. A full book of coaching clients – working with inspiring impact leaders from Australia to Europe and the UK.
5. My advisory board role with the wonderful Noon who are driving real social change on the issue of women in midlife and onwards.

Personal

1. A treasured trip to Switzerland with my 82 year old mum and our daughter – revisiting the place I was born and where I spent a big part of my childhood.
2. Rediscovering an old love for musical theatre and sharing it with my daughter including the most amazing Fangirls musical!
3. And getting to see Paul Heaton for the first time in concert – someone whose music (especially the lyrics) I’ve loved for over 35 years.

Physical

My husband, James, and I set ourselves the challenge of swimming in a different outdoor setting each month. It’s seen us find some wonderful places to swim. There’s something amazing that happens when you enter the cold water.

Psychological

1. There have been some tough moments this year. As you age, you are typically increasingly faced with your own health challenges as well as those of family, friends and colleagues. And it’s not to be underestimated the toll this takes.
2. I’ve become fascinated by Gong Baths and am a complete convert to them. It’s difficult to put into words the effect – the difference before and after. But if I had to describe it, I would say there’s a groundedness – a feeling of realignment afterwards that is really quite astonishing. Incorporating this alongside my practice of mindful self-compassion, I continue to draw on these to support me on my journey weathering the ups and downs and my ongoing intent of becoming less human doing and more human being (a constant challenge).

Purpose

One of the coaching questions I have been known to use is – if you were a stick of rock*, what word or image would be found at your core? On one of my more reflective daily walks, I revisited this question for myself. It’s really for me a question of values and how as a result I choose to show up and the effect I want to have in the world – if you like my purpose. Interestingly for me even though there have been many changes throughout my life this hasn’t changed. Look Back

At the end of the year, as we head into the holiday period and the New Year, typically we focus on what is to come by setting intentions for the coming year. However, I would like to offer you a warm invitation to reflect on not just the 12 months to come but to look back over the past year and reflect upon:

• What has this year given you? Maybe you could use the framework of professional, physical, personal, psychological and purpose as a way to reflect and summarise.
• What word or image would be found at the core of a stick of rock for you? Has this changed in the last year and if so, how?

If you’re curious to know more about my work, I’d be delighted to talk to you so please do get in touch at rebecca@wise.sherpa.co.uk or www.wisesherpa.co.uk. To learn what my clients say about me, please check out my LinkedIn profile and/or my website testimonials page.

Rebecca Hill, Founder, Wise Sherpa

*Rock is a type of hard stick-shaped boiled sugar confectionery. It is commonly sold at tourist (usually seaside) resorts in the United Kingdom. It usually takes the form of a cylindrical stick (a “stick of rock”). These cylinders usually have a pattern embedded throughout the length, which is often the name of the resort where the rock is sold, so that the name can be read on both ends of the stick (reversed at one end) and remains legible even after pieces are bitten off. Look Back

“What’s written through your piece of Rock?”

Looking Back