Oktoberfest

I experienced a little of what the Germans celebrate each year at Oktoberfest in Dublin.  This tradition is over 200 years old and the festivities are mainly made up of beer, bratwurst, Bavarian dancing and music.  So what are you celebrating this October?  
You don’t need to pick up ein bier and a pretzel to get in the spirit but you can reflect from the comfort of your own couch about what you’ve achieved to date this year.

Thinking of the different areas of your life, what are you proud of and grateful for:

1. ) Career: what has changed in your job since January that you can “bank” as a success?  It doesn’t need to be something big like a promotion, it can be a series of small “wins” throughout the year that have been steps in moving you forward.  Sit down and write a list.  Give yourself time to do this and try and get to at least ten things.  You’ll be amazed at what flows out of you when you have the space to do it.  This is one that is also useful to dig out when it comes to performance review time to ensure nothing gets forgotten!  Even more important if something on your list was very difficult or challenging, think about how you would do it differently if you faced similar situation in the future.  Think of things that didn’t go to plan or went wrong as “awesome fails” and focus on what you learnt from the situation.

2.) Personal Development: have you done any courses in or out of work?  Taken up a new hobby?  Learnt a new language?  Did you join a gym or do your first 5km?  Or anything at all that has pushed you out of comfort zone?  If so, make sure you congratulate yourself for taking that step and trying something new.  Personally one of the development activities that I have done this year was the Certificate in Career Coaching so I am now also a Qualified Career Coach.

3.) Relationships: how have your key relationships improved this year?  What support have you had?  What new friendships/acquaintances have you made that have enriched your life?

4.) Money: have you saved this year for something important?  Have you managed to reduce bills by shopping around?  Have you become more conscious of your spending habits so you can see where you can cut back if you need to?

5.) New experiences: did you go anywhere exciting where it was abroad or a staycation that opened your eyes you to new things?  What did that give you?

I normally talk about goals and going forward, but it can be nice at the start of a new month/quarter to take stock of all you have achieved to date and celebrate that for awhile.  If you would like some help on recognising your accomplishments to date, just get in touch.

Elaine x